All My Exes
by Aunt Flora
Summary: He's looked for five and a half years to find her, only to realize she's created a whole life for herself. Why did he abandon her if he really wanted to keep her? Not your usual GWTW fic.
1. Georgia on my Mind

_The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _This story starts in a dark place and goes back there from time to time. I don't think there's any sort of physical abuse or violence or anything commonly triggering, but it's not nice. There is some alcohol abuse._

Getting on a train was usually an exciting event in a young man's life, indicating an adventure waiting at the next station, begun in the most modern transportation available. Wade Hampton Hamilton was anything but cheerful. He was going to face a man he once loved dearly and now hated equally. Every day for the last five years, hate had been uppermost. Yet he would need to be cordial for this meeting. Uncle Henry said it would be good practice for when he was a lawyer, to calmly meet with people who make one's skin crawl and negotiate the best solution for one's client.

Rhett Butler had taught him so many things about being a man. He'd learned how to ride horses, how to drink liquor, and when walking away was better than a left hook. Rhett taught him about respecting ladies and all women, as well as a few tricks to dancing gracefully. On the other hand, Rhett had ruined his mother's life, killed his sister, and torn his world apart. Wade couldn't help but be bitter. At the moment he would have to be polite because the man held his life in his hands. Based on his mother's last meeting with Rhett and every communication since, Wade feared for the outcome.

Henry Hamilton was grim as they got on the train, too. Wade should have gone to Harvard at least a year earlier, but Butler refused to work with the family, had refused all the offers. There had been some good offers, too. This new offer was by far the best yet, and Henry didn't want to miss the opportunity. Yet, any man who could treat even Scarlett O'Hara the way that man had would probably laugh in their faces.

* * *

 _July 1874_

 _Wade and Ella were at breakfast when Mother started shrieking and crying. Within minutes they found her in Uncle Rhett's room, wrapped in his robe and tearing at his sheets. Wade and Ella both tried to calm her, but she wouldn't stop crying and shrieking Rhett's name, over and over._

 _Pork sent his son to fetch Doctor Meade, and Mother was gently tugged over to her own bedroom. By now she'd lost her voice, but she was still crying and thrashing in misery. The doctor came and sedated her. Henry Hamilton was summoned as the most responsible family member available. The two elderly gentlemen went out into the hallway to confer. Wade listened from his cracked bedroom door._

 _"_ _There was an empty brandy bottle in the room with her. I think she's drunk or hung over," said the doctor._

 _"_ _Captain Butler interrupted my breakfast. He was definitely drunk or hung over himself."_

 _"_ _What's he doing in town?"_

 _"_ _They signed their divorce settlement last night. He gave me a copy and told me he was taking the completed document to file at the courthouse himself before going back to Charleston."_

 _"_ _If he used that brandy to get her to sign, then she wasn't in her right mind. Can you get it quashed?"_

 _"_ _It won't matter to the Yankee judge who's a friend of his."_

 _"_ _We have to protect her."_

 _"_ _She made this bed for herself. She allowed that man to become part of her circle and then she married him."_

 _"_ _She was raised to be a lady, and there are her children to consider."_

 _"_ _There's no way to fight the divorce."_

 _"_ _We will have to help in other ways, then."_

 _"_ _I suppose I can start by looking over the settlement they signed and see what she's getting from it. If he wanted it in such a hurry, it must be more than fair to her. If it wasn't at least half of his estate, we may be able to get the judge to agree with us."_

* * *

The air in the train car became damp as they approached the coast. Uncle Henry looked over at Wade. "Even if he doesn't agree, we'll find a way. Your mother can always sell some of the stock from her settlement."

Wade shook his head. "You were very clear when she was finally calm enough and we went over it all with her. She needs the income. We just looked at the books together over Christmas. This year, if she's going to plant the next forty acres, she will need every penny of that money. We need to make Rhett see reason. He chose the life he's living now. He can afford to do what we need."

"Your mother chose her life, too. She signed that settlement."

"Only after he forced her, and we know at least some of what else happened that night." Scarlett had never told the full story. Wade didn't want to know.

* * *

They reached Charleston in the late afternoon and stayed overnight in a hotel, presenting themselves at the Butler residence just after they finished breakfast. They were ushered into where Rhett was still eating his toast. The day's newspaper was at his left hand, a full tumbler of whisky was at his right. They'd been announced, and he was wearing what Wade thought of as Rhett's poker face.

"Gentlemen, welcome to Charleston."

"Good morning, Uncle Rhett."

"You've quite grown up, Wade Hampton. You're a handsome young man, now." Rhett considered Charles Hamilton's son. He was very definitely a Hamilton, but Scarlett's Robillard ancestors had reached down and blessed him with finer lines than his father had.

"Thank you." Wade thought Rhett looked a bit run down but decided not to point it out.

"You're looking well, Henry."

"I'm still quite able to look after things."

That pretty much used up the standard greetings, thought Wade, except—

"And how is your mother, Wade Hampton?"

A woman who looked a few years older than mother came into the breakfast room and paused. "You didn't tell me we were expecting guests, Rhett."

"They were here to see me, Mrs. Butler. I didn't see that it was any of your affair."

The woman held her hand out to Henry. "I'm Caro Butler."

"Henry Hamilton, ma'am.

She turned and shook Wade's hand. "And who is this fine young gentleman?"

"Wade Hampton Hamilton," he answered for himself. "Uncle Rhett is my step-father."

Wade's hand was dropped, almost as though it disgusted her. "You mean he _was_ your step-father," said Mrs. Butler. "I take it you're the O'Hara woman's son?"

"Damn it, Caroline, just go away," said Rhett with a growl.

"This is the _breakfast_ room, Rhett. I'm here for _breakfast_."

"Then I shall take my guests to the study," said Rhett. He picked up his whisky glass and gestured to the Hamiltons to follow him. Everyone sat down and Rhett refilled his glass from a decanter that was a little too easy to reach.

"You were going to tell me. How is Scarlett?"

Henry looked at Wade. "I saw her at Christmas," he said. "She's doing well."

Rhett leaned over his desk, an eager look on his face. "Is she happy?"

Wade didn't have a good answer. "She's… content. You destroyed her, Uncle Rhett, but she's found a way to make a life for herself." He smiled in spite of himself. "Her life suits her."

"Always lands on her feet," Rhett muttered. "I can guess why you're here."

"Uncle Rhett, you know from my father's will that I'm to go to Harvard."

"Your mother wanted you to go to the University of Georgia."

Wade sighed and started an oft-repeated litany. "My father went to Harvard, Uncle Henry went to Harvard, and now it's my turn."

"Well, I don't need to fight your mother's battles for her, and you've clearly made your decision. You'll be eighteen by next fall and you can enroll yourself. What do you need from me?"

"Mother's finances are such that she needs to sell the Atlanta house in order to afford it."

"That's ridiculous. I gave her an enormous sum to get rid of her," Rhett answered, continuing in a mumble, "If only that would work twice." He took a drink from his glass.

"She's kept the bulk of it invested," said Henry. "She's using the income to support about three dozen people as well as to finance her current enterprises."

"That's the problem," said Rhett. "Tell her to cut off the freeloaders."

"You know she won't do that," snapped Henry, wondering if Rhett considered him to be one of the freeloaders.

"Ah yes, her self-imposed penance for her treatment of Melanie Wilkes. How is the wooden-headed widower these days?"

Wade exchanged looks with Uncle Henry and cleared his throat. "Uncle Ashley and Beau moved to Charlotte. He's working for one of the big banks out there."

"Ah-ha, so that is where your mother is?"

Wade said, "No," even as Uncle Henry said, "Perhaps."

Uncle Rhett refreshed his glass and took a long pull at it. "That's one city off the list. Only a few hundred to go, now." A reflective look passed over his face and he murmured, "Odd that she didn't follow him."

Wade blushed, realizing he'd been tricked. He resolved not to answer any more questions, certainly not about his mother. "Please, Uncle Rhett. You know neither of you ever wants to set foot in the Atlanta house again. Just sign the paperwork and let it go."

Rhett sighed, tired with the conversation. He was tired of most things these days. He pointed with the hand holding the glass, leaning upon the desk with his other elbow. "You tell your mother that she knows how to get me to sell the house, and that's the only way you'll get your money. She loves money so much; I can't understand why she didn't jump at it in the beginning."

"You still never figured out what she really wanted," said Henry.

Wade's face got very red. "I told you she's content. You have this beautiful house and Mrs. Butler is very pretty. Do you really have to find Mother? Do you really have to hurt her again? Can't you be happy to just leave her alone?"

"That is between me and her," said Rhett, drawing his words out even further than the lazy Charleston drawl would. "You tell her. She can take it or leave it."

Wade got very angry. "No gentleman would treat a lady as you've treated her."

"I'm well acquainted with that fact. It has nothing to do with either of us, being neither a gentleman nor a lady."

Wade stood up and prepared to leave. "I was once under a different impression about you and how you felt about my mother. Maybe you never loved her at all."

As they left the house, Henry said, "Maybe we could sell one of your father's warehouses."

"Mother would kill me, "said Wade.

Henry ran his fingers through his beard. "We'll have to send her a telegram. She said she wants to know, whatever he says."

"This will kill Mother," said Wade sadly.

"It's the prerogative of mothers to sacrifice for their children, Wade. Accept it a little longer while you're still her child."

Rhett silently followed them to the door, hoping to hear something useful. He was disappointed in that, but at least he knew they would be contacting Scarlett. He went to his study and sat down. His head felt heavy. Wade's last comment to Rhett hit harder than the boy realized.

 _November 1874, Atlanta_

 _Rhett let himself into the Peachtree Street house. The door groaned at being pushed open. It hadn't been used in a while and a summer of moisture had swollen the wood so that it stuck. When he got inside, he realized the house was empty, had been empty for weeks. The furniture was gone, and there wasn't even a feeling of people having been in it recently. Where had they gone? Where was Scarlett?_

 _He walked up the stairs and started in Scarlett's grand ballroom. He recalled that first crush. She'd been so excited for it and so sad when the old guard hadn't succumbed to her new-found wealth. He chuckled a little as he came down to the second floor. He looked into the various bedrooms. The nursery looked so bare without the cribs and little beds. Wade's room did as well. The guest rooms hardly felt different to him without furniture. They were devoid of any character to begin with._

 _He stood in Scarlett's bedroom, the room that had originally been his as well, and caught a remnant of lemon verbena that she had used, desperate to remember her mother in some small way. A pang of longing went through him as he wondered where she had gone. He'd thought that he would find her here, that she would welcome him back as she had on their anniversary in July. There had been moments of happiness when they shared this room. Perhaps they might have reclaimed it now, after he explained what had happened._

 _He went into his own bedroom, the place where he'd seen her last. He wondered if there was any way to make her understand that he had to leave, that he couldn't stay. There had been other people to consider. He was determined to try to explain, although the shriek he'd heard as he had let himself out of the house in July told him it would never work._

 _He found an envelope on the mantlepiece._

 _Dear Captain Butler (the letter read), It's my understanding that you have no desire to return to this house. I have arranged for every room to be crated and stored at the Hamilton warehouses. I will be taking a few pieces with me, and some are earmarked for Wade and Ella, but most of it will be there for you to take what you like. Uncle Henry will be looking for buyers, and then if I understand the settlement, we can split the proceeds. Sincerely, Katie Scarlett O'Hara._

 _How could she be so impersonal? Hadn't he meant anything to her? Where was the love she'd professed less than a year ago and again, not even four months past? He went straight to Pittypat Hamilton's house, which Wade Hamilton and Beau Wilkes owned jointly. After throwing the house into an uproar and putting Pitty into hysterics, he finally understood from India that Scarlett had left town almost two months before with no forwarding address._

 _Next he'd gone to Tara. The servants convinced him that Scarlett wasn't there, but he wouldn't leave, sure someone knew where to find her. Will Benteen finally came to speak to him._

 _"_ _Are you hiding my wife from me?" Rhett challenged him._

 _"_ _As I hear it, your wife is in Charleston," said Will._

 _"_ _You know who I want."_

 _"_ _If you're looking for Scarlett O'Hara, you won't find her. She's long gone. If she wants to contact you, she will."_

 _In almost five and a half years, Rhett had never been able to find her, although he kept looking._

Rhett woke up to a gentle tapping on his arm. His valet handed him a telegram.

"GOD'S NIGHTGOWN, RHETT. ONLY YOU WOULD PUNISH THE CHILDREN FOR YOUR OWN MISTAKES."

The important part was in the signature. "Kate McLure, Tara Farm, Dixon County, Texas"

* * *

 _A/N: This story is not a songfic, but as the title and every chapter title will indicate, there is definitely a playlist. Many will be torch songs from the 1930s and 1940s, but as some of you will know, "All My Exes" was sung by George Strait and written by Lyndia and Sanger Shafer. "Georgia on My Mind" was written by the immortal Hoagy Carmichael and was sung by many, but I think most would agree the quintessential cover was done by Ray Charles._


	2. I Get Along Without You Very Well

Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns.

 _NB: This chapter involves more alcohol abuse._

Charleston, SC, Winter, 1880

Once Rhett knew where to look, it was absurdly easy to find Katie Scarlett McLure, née O'Hara, on the Dixon County tax roll. Within weeks he had a copies of the plats of her land and knew its assessed value as a cotton farm and that she was up to date on all of her taxes. Interesting, that if one were to overlay a map of Atlanta onto a map of Houston, it would be similarly situated to Jonesboro, Georgia. Scarlett was there, and he would go there, too.

Rhett had only been in East Texas once. It was a horrible place, full of crawling creatures and a sort of breathless humidity that made one long for the comparatively arid Atlantic coast. The Houston he remembered was fairly young, not too many years older than Scarlett's beloved Atlanta. It had no past and no sense of gentility.

He looked around his study and considered his current life. Charleston's past and sense of gentility had done nothing good for him. He was trapped in a prison he'd almost freely walked into. He could only imagine what Houston was now, and what it would think of a woman like Scarlett. He looked at the paper again. He could only imagine who this Kate McLure was.

* * *

Caroline walked into the breakfast room on a morning in late March and stared at him. "What, no whisky?"

"I'm going on a trip today."

"Where are we going?"

"You're not coming, my jailer. I took you on our honeymoon. That's enough marital bliss to last me until my next marriage."

"Read the fine print of your agreement with my father, darling. This is the only marriage you're going to have, unless I die."

Rhett looked up at her balefully. "I can arrange that, my dear harridan, but not today. I'm booked solid. I have travel plans, and you no doubt have some scintillating committee meeting or soiree to attend."

"Where are you going?" She looked at him with narrowed eyes.

He grinned. "That's my business."

"I'm your wife, so it's my business, too."

Rhett grinned more broadly. "Yes, my fair burden, you're my wife, and according to the laws of this state your business is my business, but my business is not your business in the least."

Caroline's face scrunched up. "Does it have to do with the O'Hara brat's visit last month?"

"Wade's last name is Hamilton, and he's anything but a brat. He's a young gentleman from one of Atlanta's finest families. My trip may or may not have to do with his visit. Again, it's none of your business."

"He told you where to find her, didn't he? That's why you aren't drunk off your feet the last two weeks, isn't it?"

"He didn't tell me, no. In fact he was quite loyal to his mother, who doesn't want to be found."

"This trip has something to do with her. How dare you, when you're married to me?"

"I was married to her first. One might say she has the first right of refusal."

Caroline's face scrunched up even more, and her eyes got red. "You know who does the refusing around here."

Rhett nodded in mock sympathy. "Yes, my ball and chain, your lot is surely a hard one." He snapped his newspaper out in front of himself and pulled out his watch. Caroline stood there for a full minute and then stomped out of the room. "Weren't you going to eat your breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry." She stopped at the doorway. Rhett glanced around the paper and saw that her fists were clenched.

"It's not like you to be so delicate, my sweet battleaxe... by chance, are you in a delicate condition? That would solve at least one of my problems nicely. I could put off my plans for a day or two to discuss it with your father and my lawyers."

She whirled around again, but only saw the newspaper. Rhett chuckled cruelly. This time he heard her run up the stairs. He closed his watch and opened the back cover. it was engraved "Your loving wife Caro" and their wedding date, but the photograph of Caroline had been replaced by Scarlett as soon as he got home from his honeymoon and could go through his box of personal items to find the watch Scarlett once had given him for Christmas with her picture in it. Scarlett's picture was put in the new watch and Caroline's was put in the fire.

"Soon, my sweet," he whispered.

* * *

Dixon County, TX, Winter 1880

Katie Scarlett McLure sent her telegram in a fit of pique and repented of her haste almost immediately. She spent the next several weeks pacing across her neat yard and worrying over it, from the big house she built to the five-room house the previous owners left, around to the shed, across to the stable, around to the other house they'd built for Mahala and Herman.

She looked around her farm, coming to life with the spring. As long as there weren't too many rainy days, they'd get everything planted as she planned for. As long as they got a good price for the cotton this year, they would make a good profit. She could pay down that mortgage and feel just a little freer of the men who kept her money. There was much to be proud of, much to be content with. If only she didn't have Rhett hanging over her head.

Maybe Rhett just wanted to know where she was. Perhaps he just wanted some idea of where he could find her in case of an emergency, for example… Under what circumstances would he want her to know about anything? She shrugged to herself. He didn't care. The way he'd left her, the way he'd raised her hopes and her faith in him only to smash those hopes… that wasn't a man who wanted to be able to contact her in case he broke his leg.

Maybe Rhett wanted to know where she was to avoid her. That sounded more like him. The way he'd acted on the two visits before it happened, he might not want her shadow to darken his boots. He'd treated her as the least desirable person in the world. It was closer but still didn't ring true. If he wanted to avoid her, he was in luck because she hadn't been east since she came to Texas. He obviously didn't need to know where she was to avoid her.

 _He was coming_.

It was the only answer that made sense to her. He was coming, and he would discover all of her secrets, and God help her if he decided to act about it the way he did about Ashley working at the mill. He would see what she'd made of her life and be angry. At the very least, he would yell at her and mock her and use his sarcasm and biting wit to make her feel stupid. At worst he would—she took a deep breath and tried not to think of the worst. If she had to think of it, it could wait until another day, until he actually did what she feared.

* * *

The last time Rhett had seen Scarlett, he'd broken her heart.

 _July, 1874_

 _He took a bottle of champagne, a bottle of brandy, and their divorce paperwork to the Peachtree Street house on their wedding anniversary. He stepped over the threshold in trepidation, unsure of whether he could carry out this task, then mentally scolded himself. There was so much that depended upon his getting it done. He had to see it out._

 _When Scarlett got home, exhausted and looking weary with life, his heart went out to her. He greeted her in the parlor. "Happy anniversary, my dear Mrs. Butler," he said. Her whole face had lit up. He was dressed for the occasion and it was clear she readily believed in the happy ending his appearance would indicate. She was so easy. "The children will be eating upstairs and going to bed without us. Would you care to dress for dinner?" He smiled convincingly and she ran up the stairs. Where there had been a listless, sad woman just a moment before, there was now a jubilant one, hurrying to comply with his request._

 _She was so beautiful when she came down, wearing one of his favorite evening gowns, a green satin that complimented her eyes and caught the lamplight. He'd bought her the pendant she was wearing and matching ear-rings on their honeymoon, and the memories of that time came crashing back. He wavered at the sight of her and then decided to enjoy the evening. He knew what he had to do, but it didn't mean he couldn't take a little pleasure in it, and Scarlett would never know the difference._

 _"_ _My love, your beauty always hits me clean through," he said honestly. He offered her his arm and walked her to the dining room._

 _"_ _You do run on," she said, breathlessly._

 _The two place settings had been placed at one end of the long table, one at the head, and the other just to the side of it. He'd asked the cooks to prepare her favorite foods. The evening would be perfect._

 _He poured the champagne for her and watched her eat, too nervous to take more than a few bites himself. She looked like she could use it. She must not eat very well with him away. He asked her about her day at work and she smiled brightly while describing how well she was doing at the store. She kept eating and drinking, and he kept pouring the champagne and nodding to the maid who kept bringing out more courses._

 _Finally, even Scarlett was done. He'd done everything he could to get her into a frame of mind to cooperate. They went into the parlor, where he sat her on the one settee he could stand to use. On the coffee table before them were the documents for the divorce._

 _She knew what they were the instant she saw them, and he could feel the sense of crushing betrayal wash through her. She rushed over to a spittoon and lost every bite of her dinner. Tears came to his eyes as he handed her his handkerchief and held her. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead as he would have done in the past. It wasn't the first time that it crossed his mind to stop the madness. They shouldn't need a divorce as long as she felt like this in his arms. He forced himself to think of what was on the line if he didn't go through with this. He forced himself to swallow and see it through. He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away._

 _"_ _We need to do this, Scarlett. I need you to sign the paperwork."_

 _"_ _I can't—" she whispered._

 _"_ _Don't make me sue you," he said quietly. "Don't drag this out. It's going to happen one way or another." He poured her some of the brandy._

 _"_ _Why?" she asked. "You said we didn't have to do this. You said you'd come to Atlanta to keep down the talk." She thought for a moment. "All of it was a lie, wasn't it? You were just saying whatever it would take to make me let you go. Even telling me you once loved me… was that a lie?"_

 _He couldn't answer and lowered his head._

 _Her lower lip trembled as she looked around the parlor. "I've been so good. I've tried to follow kinder practices at the store, I've taken care of Beau, even though I want to beat Ashley with my bare hands, I've tried to support Melly's charities, all while taking better care of my children. I'm not a good mother yet, but I'm a better one. All of that was wasted, wasn't it?"_

 _If he was pleasantly surprised, he couldn't show it. He looked over her head at the wall. It was a mistake. A portrait of Bonnie hung there, the product of his love for this woman. "It wasn't wasted for the people you've helped, Scarlett." He opened the file and pulled out the first of the pages they needed to sign. "It proves that I was always a bad influence on you and you're better off without me." He refilled her glass and handed it back to her._

 _"_ _It's not true," she said with a trembling voice._

 _He took a pen out of his breast pocket and unscrewed it. His signature was already on all of the pages. It just needed hers. "Scarlett, my dear, please."_

 _"_ _But I love you, Rhett." Tears filled her eyes._

 _"_ _I know," he said. "I need you to do this, my dear. I'm begging you."_

 _He refilled her glass and left it on the table, pushed the papers a little closer. She looked at him, tears overflowing, and signed the first one: Katie Scarlett Butler. She worked her way through all of the pages where she had to sign under his name, finally reaching the last page, the last time she would ever sign this name: Katie. Scarlett. Butler. It was done. He should feel relief, but the loss was uppermost at the moment._

 _"_ _Thank you, my pet."_

 _"_ _I'm not your pet any more. I'm nothing." She shot back the brandy in the glass and stood up. "I still feel like Scarlett Butler, but now I don't exist."_

 _She went and sat on the stairs, not three feet from where she'd landed the day she almost died. Pulling out her own handkerchief she leaned against the banister and sobbed for several minutes. He reorganized the papers in his valise and set them on the table by the door. He couldn't leave her like that, so he gently stood her on her feet and guided her upstairs. He took the brandy up with them. It would be a long night._

 _The night ended, and he knew he had to leave before she woke. He dressed quickly and picked up the valise. He opened the front door and looked around the hallway. This house had contained so much happiness, so much misery, so much of his life. He stepped over the sill and heard her first scream as he shut the door._

1880, Dixberg Texas

The shriek of the engine woke him. He was here. Like most of the small towns he'd visited, Rhett found a hotel where he left his suitcases, and a livery stable, where he could rent a horse and get directions. The owner was quite familiar with the Tara Farm and its proprietress. He assumed Rhett was traveling for business purposes.

"That Katie is a fine woman. She'll deal honestly with you, whether it's horses or cotton."

"Thank you," said Rhett without stating his purpose for visiting.

* * *

 _A/N: Once again we're using a Hoagy Carmichael song, and there are more of his songs to come, but I promise this won't be the Hoagy Carmichael songbook. There are quite a few good covers out there, but I'm partial to the Nelson Riddle arrangement that backed Linda Ronstadt._

 _Congratulations to all of you who fell in love with Caroline for whatever reason. On the strength of your love, she wormed her way into a lengthy section of this chapter. I will point out that the Carolinas have many Carols, Carolls, Carolines, Carlys, Charlottes, Caros, and Carries. So Caroline's name is a no brainer, and her father's name is Charles, not that it will come up for at least half a dozen chapters._

 _And, last but not least, I've been playing with dates. We know from the canon that they announced their engagement after the election that would have been November of 1868. Most likely Rhett would have gotten her to the altar or city hall within two or three months after that. I have reasons for setting their wedding date in July of 1869, knowing that it messes up some of the canon._

 _As always, you're all too kind. Thank you, dear readers and reviewers, including **Romabeachgirl1981, Aethelfraed, Guest 1 & 2, gogomohamad229, gabyhyatt, COCO B, beautifulliar326, Truckee Gal, pro patria mori, ****gumper,** and **Phantom710.** You make my inbox sing._


	3. Smooth Operator

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _Warning, There's still a little alcohol abuse here, and questionable consent._

From the outset, the number of roads Rhett was told to follow was dizzying, but if he simply followed the directions signpost by signpost, it turned out they were just right. He presently came up to a gate with TARA FARM-1874 worked in iron across the top. He turned up the lane and came upon a few men and two small boys. They appeared to be inspecting and mending the fence.

He pulled up and dismounted. One of the men came toward him, and the two boys followed him. Rhett took off his hat. "I'm not sure if this is the right place. I'm looking for Scarlett O'Hara."

"This is the place," said the other man. There was something in the way he said it. Rhett wasn't sure whether to like him. He was easily as tall as Rhett, and as muscular. He took off his hat and showed hair of a tawny golden color, and his eyes were a clear blue. His skin was already somewhat tanned from the April sunshine. Rhett suddenly thought of his own somewhat less healthy form and the fact he hadn't been out of the house much in five years.

One of the little boys piped up. "You must be Cap'n Rhett Butler."

Rhett took a step back and looked at the youngster. "Indeed I am. How do you know?"

The other one nodded. "You look like us, just like Ma said." The youngster's hat tipped off.

Rhett looked again and saw two boys, perhaps five years old, with his black hair and olive complexion and, worst of all, _his_ annoying grin. They had their mother's startling green eyes. He remembered the night he'd forced her to sign the papers and what else happened that night in a rush. He had wondered from time to time, but surely Scarlett would have said _something_. Apparently, she wouldn't.

"I—" What could one say when faced with this situation? He looked at the boys again. They were the right age, of course, and now they were poking at each other and starting to wrestle. They seemed like perfectly normal, active little boys. Rhett felt his eyes start to water with a particular sort of pride he'd never hoped to have again. Damn Scarlett for keeping this from him.

He looked up the lane and then back toward town. He'd waited five years to find her, and he'd come this far. This was the place, and the woman who'd been part of every waking thought for the past nineteen years was just down this lane. He swallowed the sudden anger that was fighting with everything else in his mind and heart. He'd simply add this to the reasons he needed to see her, the sooner the better.

"Perhaps I should see you to the house," said the man. "Kate figured you'd be here eventually once she sent that telegram. I'm Ewan McLure." He held his hand over the fence to shake.

They boys stopped playing long enough to come to the fence, too. "I'm Bud!" said the youngster who still had his hat on.

"I'm Jerry!" the other one said, tipping his brother's hat off.

Rhett shook hands with the boys and looked at Ewan again as he absorbed all of this. "I take it that you're the source of her new name?" Although blond, he didn't seem very much like Ashley Wilkes. If he were forced into a description, he'd say the man was almost like a blond version of himself, but half a dozen, maybe ten years younger.

"I take it that you're the source of her two previous name changes." The other man jumped over the fence and patted Rhett's horse. "They gave you the best of the lot. Ginger's quite a mare."

"I can see that."

"The house is just behind those trees. Won't take us ten minutes to walk it. We can take care of Ginger and then you can meet with Kate." He whistled loudly then. "Hey, Herman! Watch the boys!"

The presumable Herman shouted back and waved.

Rhett asked himself how it could have happened and how Scarlett could have avoided telling him this for five years. Neither question was particularly difficult to answer. He knew himself, knew Scarlett, and well remembered the last night of their marriage.

He had wondered from time to time. He wasn't stupid and babies seemed to happen so easily with her. He had considered asking, in all the letters he sent to Henry demanding her location. He sighed. He didn't ask because she would have answered truthfully, and if he'd known, what would he have done? What could he possibly have done? _Caroline will explode over this_ , he thought to himself with a grin.

* * *

 _July 1875_

 _Rhett had very carefully not touched Scarlett very much from the time he'd gotten into the house until now, knowing it would be his undoing. He hoped he could get her into her own bed and then go to the hotel. He got as far as the landing with his arm around her, smelling her soft scent, feeling her soft form against himself. The resolve he'd been carefully holding broke._

 _He stopped and turned so that they were facing each other. "My love," he whispered. With the brandy bottle still in his left hand, he bent her over that arm and kissed her until neither of them could breathe._

 _"_ _I knew you didn't mean it," she said. "I knew you still love me."_

 _"_ _I never stopped," he answered, truthfully. He lifted her and carried her the rest of the way up to his bedroom. "We're still married," he thought aloud. "The judge hasn't signed it."_

 _He set the brandy aside and kissed her as he unfastened the back of her dress. It fell to the floor and he lifted her out of it. He turned her to loosen her corset only to discover she wasn't wearing one. He could feel her ribs through her chemise. "Poor darling, you haven't been eating," he observed._

 _"_ _I've missed you so, and for so long I've missed this. Rhett, I love you." She helped him unbutton his vest and shirt. She sent his tie across the room and soon they were on the bed, tearing at each other's underclothes._

 _"_ _Sweet," he mumbled as he touched her. His hand trailed down to her navel and he repeated it. "Sweet." In the back of his mind he told himself he had to remember every second of this._

 _She was murmuring something unintelligible as her body urged him on. Every so often he made out his name and "Yes!" or "Please!"_

 _When it was over, she lay beneath him, still holding him to her. "I knew it was a mistake. I knew it was all wrong. You wouldn't really do that to me, would you Rhett? Not if you can make me feel like this, right?"_

 _He leaned above her, holding her beneath him. "My love," was the only answer he could give. He kissed her eyes, her nose, her forehead and cheeks and finally her lips in delight that she was his very own. "My love."_

 _They cooled and he shifted to his side. She lay on her back pressed up against him, the top of her head tucked under his chin. She folded into him in that way she had; he would have to remember it in the cold bed of his future._

 _He was the worst person in the world. He knew how this had to end, and he knew how he would look to her forever afterward. Yet he couldn't help wanting it anyway. He felt her doze off and got out of the bed. Somewhere in this room there were glasses. He found two and poured brandy in each. Scarlett stirred and sat up, smiling shyly. "Hello," she said._

 _"_ _Good evening, Mrs. Butler."_

 _Scarlett didn't know what to ask or what to think. She just knew that Rhett was back and that their marriage would be everything it ought to be from now on. She took the glass Rhett handed her and sipped from it. She knew all of the adoration she'd once wasted on Ashley, that she'd actually felt for Rhett, was on her face, and she had no desire to hide it._

 _"_ _What will we do next, Rhett? How will we show everyone that we're back together?"_

 _"_ _Let's talk about that another time. For now, I want to relearn your entire body."_

 _He set both their glasses aside and started kissing and caressing her shoulders. She kissed him and her back arched, pressing herself into his body, and his hands. She loved the way she felt when he touched her, when he moved over her, and those moments she surrounded him with her arms and her legs and her very self. She was safe now. He would take care of her._

 _He made love to her several times that night, enjoying the feel of her pleasure in his arms, knowing that he was stealing from both their futures. He couldn't seem to help himself. He knew he was making the memories that would keep him warm for the years ahead, when unhappiness would greet him from every nook and cranny of Charleston._

 _Scarlett finally fell asleep a little after dawn, confident in his love. It was all a mistake. It had to be. He couldn't whisper that she was his love if he meant to divorce her. They would get up in a few hours and burn those horrible papers and… Scarlett didn't need to worry about what would happen after that. Whatever Rhett planned would be just right, but for now she just needed a few minutes of rest…_

 _He looked at his watch. He had time to clean up a bit and shave before any of the offices he needed to visit would be open, and hopefully he could get out of the house before she would wake. He could finish his business and be on the ten-thirty train that would eventually lead to Charleston. He rang for water and put on his robe, laying out the items he would need. Pork offered him breakfast, but he demurred, not wanting to waste a minute._

 _As he shaved, he watched her sleep. One whole side of her body had slipped out from the sheet, not that it mattered. The July morning was already getting warm. He dressed quickly and pondered dropping one last kiss on her cheek. He decided against it. He even said, "Good-bye, my love," silently. An instant later, he was shutting the door behind him._

 _Scarlett heard the door click and stretched luxuriously. Rhett was back and everything would be the way it always should have been. The world had finally righted itself and they would be so very happy._

 _"_ _Rhett, what shall we do first today?"_

 _No one answered._

 _"_ _Rhett?" She got up and put on his robe, which was the easiest thing at hand. "Rhett?" She tiptoed out of the room and into her own. He wasn't there. "Rhett?"_

 _She felt, more than heard, the heavy front door open. "No! No no no no no no no!" The door shut._

 _She looked over the railing and saw that his bag had been taken from where he left it on the end table in the hallway. A hole opened in her gut and grew. It had all been a lie. He had gotten her signature, and then he had gotten her body. He had finally made good on his desire to have her without marriage._

 _Someone was screaming and shrieking. It made Scarlett's head pound. She went back into his bedroom. There must be some indication that he was coming back. "Rhett! Rhett!" The shrieking started again. They brought her to her own room, got her own nightgown on her. At some point a merciful silence descended, and then she knew nothing._

* * *

"Katie, darlin'."

She stirred and came back to herself. Ewan was pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead. "I must have dozed off."

His thumb wiped a tear off her cheek. "You were having the dream again?"

She could only nod. "It never changes. He leaves, every single time. It's been so much worse since I sent the telegram. I know I'm just dreading the inevitable."

"Oh, honey..." His voice was so soothing. He held her close. "I'm not going anywhere, and I love you."

"You know I love you. Ewan, you are the best man I've ever known. I don't deserve you."

"Don't forget it." He kissed her and cuddled her for a moment, then remembered the reason he came into her study. "Kate, he's here, and he's already met them."

"The boys?" He nodded. "I'm guessing he knows?"

"They pointed out the similarities as soon as they saw him."

"They're too much like him _not_ to comment about it." She took a deep breath. "He's going to come in here like Sherman into Atlanta, and I've been having nightmares on the study sofa." She stood up and peered into a looking glass hung near the corner. It was as she might have expected. There were tear streaks running in all directions, and the embroidered pillow had left a mark. She pinched her cheeks and looked again. It was a little better.

 _Damn_ the man for always finding her at her worst. He would come exactly when she was weepy and ugly from having a bad dream. She sat back down in the desk chair and straightened her spine. "We knew this day would come, but I had to send that telegram. He won't hurt the twins, and Wade needed it. The rest of us will have to take our chances." She took out a handkerchief and quickly wiped her eyes and nose. "Do I look all right?"

He looked her up and down and sighed longingly. "You're my Georgia peach, darlin'." He leaned down and spent several minutes convincing her that he found her quite attractive.

When he finally released her, he saw a reluctant dimple. "I declare you turn my head, Mr. McLure." She nodded and straightened herself and the desk chair, which faced the doorway. The desk would be between herself and Rhett. "Very well, Ewan, send him in."

Ewan smiled at her and warmed the whole room. She couldn't help smiling back. "You'll be fine, darlin', and I'll be right out here if you need me." he said as he turned and walked out. She wondered if he knew how good he looked as he went.

* * *

 _A/N: I'm guessing by the reviews previous to this chapter that out of the two or three reveals herein, most of you already saw them coming. C'est la fanfic._

 _The title of this chapter is a song written by Clyde Lovern Otis and Murray Stein, and sung by Sade. Has my mix started to get a little eclectic? Yeah, it does that._

 _Thanks so much for all the love you gave me in the last chapter! I'm quite spoiled by all my FFN friends, including **WhitmanFrostFiend, gumper, Romabeachgirl1981, beautifulliar326, Lov, gabyhyatt, COCO B, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5, Truckee Gal, gogomohamad229, annaPanag, pro patria mori, ****Phantom710** , and **TheFauxGinge.**_


	4. What's New?

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _Note: I feel the need to comment to those for whom Rhett/Scarlett is endgame. I have one completed story and one active story running along those lines, after all. This is a different story with a different situation as the central plot point. I feel bad to break the two of them up, but then I read the last chapter of the novel and I figure the odds were pretty even, so this explores a different scenario._

* * *

Rhett walked into the office and just stared at the woman he'd once called wife. Her hair was pulled back neatly, but not severely. Her face had filled in a little. She reminded him of right after they'd first married. There was life in her face, and her body, what he could see of it behind the desk, was pleasingly filled out, not so skinny as she'd got after the miscarriage and Bonnie's death. She was thirty-five if he recalled correctly, and the years had been extremely kind to her. He was aware that they'd been less kind to him.

"Are those _my_ boys?" He pointed his hat out the door.

She refused to be pulled into a shouting match first thing, if his presence was going to fill the room like it always had in Atlanta days. "Good afternoon, Captain Butler," she said, sounding to herself just as she had at the bazaar where they formally met. She held her hand out over the desk as if to shake.

He picked up her hand and kissed it. "My dear Mrs…" He was hung there, surprised and disturbed that the exchange they'd used so many times in the past was irrevocably changed. He shook his head, not wanting to get off the topic. "Scarlett, you never told me about my children."

She stretched her back a little and waved at the chair to his side. "Have a seat, Rhett." As he did, she said, "You never asked."

She glanced down at the register in front of her. There was a mistake in the third column. She made a mark to remember it when she got the chance. She looked back up. He was observing her with that blank stare that always made her fidget and say too much. "What made you extort my address out of me in order for me to give my son his birthright, and what brought you one thousand miles from your presumably lovely home and presumably lovely wife to come to a place where your freshly pressed linen suit didn't last fifteen minutes without getting crumpled and dusty?"

"Your son has the money now, doesn't he? I put my half into an account for you to spend on the children."

"Uncle Henry wrote me. It was most generous of you. Thank you."

So much for the first exchange of battle. They were quiet for a minute. He realized they were off the topic again.

"Why have you been hiding, Scarlett? Was it the twins?"

"Do you really have to ask? How could I possibly stay in Atlanta, divorced and pregnant at the same time?"

"When were those boys born?"

"You no doubt have figured out the answer. They will be five next week, making their birth April 16 of 1875, nine months after our fifth wedding anniversary, or the date of our divorce, depending upon which occasion you prefer to note on that night."

"The date of our divorce is August 18. That's when the judge signed it."

"If you're going to argue with me about everything, you can go right back out that door and straight to Halifax." She had developed her own penetrating stare in the last five years.

"So it would be nine months after our fifth wedding anniversary or _eight_ months after our divorce, depending upon which date has more meaning for you. You won, Rhett. You got to have me as your mistress for one night, and I got the passel of brats. I never would have believed it, that night we discussed it during the siege, but I have to admit, I got by far the best of that deal."

"We were still legally married when we conceived them and they're mine, and don't tell me that night wasn't the best of our marriage."

"The best night of our marriage was the last?" Scarlett felt herself tear up and shook her head, determined not to let him have that. "You let me believe that you had changed your mind, but it was all a lie, wasn't it? In _your_ mind we were already divorced by the time you took me upstairs. In your mind, I was nothing more than one of many bodies in the many beds around the world. I was no more than one of those women you frequent in places like Belle Watling's house. How many pregnant prostitutes have you left behind you?"

"There are methods to reduce the chance…" He couldn't explain it now. He returned to the twins. "They're sure to be hellions."

"They're spirited at times, I will admit, but nothing Ewan can't handle. I got the best of that deal, too," she said quietly.

"They do appear to be fine boys, It's to your… and Mr. McLure's credit. You're married?"

"I don't just go randomly using men's names for my own, Rhett."

"No, you just go randomly marrying men."

He expected to see her puff up and lay into him but instead watched her take a deep breath and say nothing. He spoke again before she did. "Do the boys know I'm their father? Do they know you took them and hid them from me?"

"No," she said, "I don't think so, and I was hiding them from the busybodies and old peahens who would have gossiped and treated them as worthless. I was hiding them for their sake and for the sake of _your_ reputation, because you were so eager to marry that other woman that you must have been madly in love.

"Now that they've met you, they'll figure it out when they get old enough to understand that sort of thing. For now, you're some sort of kin to the family. When I realized your arrival was unavoidable, I had to give them all a little information about you. You're someone I was close to in Atlanta."

He leered at her. "I should say we got pretty close the night we made those boys." He should have realized that her practical mind would have quickly realized what his marriage and her pregnancy would do to every single person in their combined worlds. He sat back in the chair. "What's their last name?"

"McLure, just like their parents and their brother."

"Brother?"

"Aiden is two years old."

Rhett looked out the window. Scarlett definitely won this round. She hadn't just got married, she was _happily_ married.

Kate felt almost guilty at the defeated slump to his shoulders. "You're upset that I have children with my husband? You've been married longer than I have. Surely you have children," She averred.

"No," said Rhett quietly. "There will be no children from my marriage. Those two boys will be my heirs. You shouldn't have kept them from me, but I'll do right by them." That much he'd decided in the hour since he'd met them.

"Rhett, why are you here?"

"I've been looking for you since right after it all happened. I wanted to explain. I was hoping that somehow we could find an arrangement."

"An… _arrangement_ , Rhett?"

He nodded. "I don't share a bed with my wife. I never have." There, it was out.

She was always quick with math and now was no exception. "Why couldn't you just stick with Belle Watling? She would move to Charleston in a heartbeat for you."

"She was never more than an illiterate whore."

"Whereas you constantly told me how stupid I was and that I was little better than a whore? I don't see a difference in how you claim to view us." Kate let that one draw out before observing, "She loves you and doesn't want anything from you that you're not willing to give, at least from what you say." She smiled softly. "Ewan _does_ see a difference between me and other women."

"Scarlett, you _are_ different, and you know I wanted you like I've never wanted any other woman. It's still true, and that night..."

"That night shouldn't have happened. You _knew_ that before it started, and I knew it the minute it ended. Then you got married and I could never understand why you let it happen, why you spent that last night with me."

"I still love you, Scarlett. Do you still love me?"

"I'm married now, Rhett, and I love my husband, and it's _Kate_ now."

"You once professed deathless love to me."

"You dismissed it pretty quickly, but I meant every word," she said sadly. "Ewan is… different. He's a better man. I do love him, so very much, and what is between us is clean and precious. My love for you is torture, always wishing you would stop being mean long enough to... You used it that last night, and you betrayed it from the moment you stepped through the door until you left."

She wasn't wrong, but Rhett was offended. "Surely it wasn't all bad."

"No, dinner was delicious and that champagne was lovely. It's a shame I lost it when I realized it was just to set me up. I know you went to a great deal of work on all of it, to get me into a frame of mind, and then with the brandy to twist me so far around I would do anything you asked."

"What about…"

"The eight hours we spent in your bedroom after you forced my signature? It was heaven, Rhett, but did they tell you what happened the next morning?"

He blanched. "I heard you scream as I left."

"I don't remember it that clearly," she said absently, looking out the window. The twins were playing in the yard, now. Ewan had no doubt had told them to do their pre-dinner chores and they were dragging it out. "I was told that I screamed and cried until I lost my voice. They had to sedate me."

"Scarlett, I—"

"Are you going to apologize? Was it all some sort of a mistake?"

He shook his head no. "The divorce had to be done, but you never should have kept your pregnancy from me."

She sighed and threw her hands in the air, then let them fall back to the desk. "Well and good, Rhett. I received the paper work from the courts and the declaration of nullity from the Church on the same day my aunts oh-so-helpfully sent me the notice of your beautiful society wedding. By the way, Aunt Pauline thought the gravy could have used a dash of ginger. She asked me to mention it so you could tell your cooks."

He raised an eyebrow at the absurdity that never stopped amazing him when it came to his mother's dear friends Pauline and Eulalie. Did they honestly think Scarlett would be on such terms with his household that the exchange of kitchen hints would be likely? Was Scarlett still supporting them financially? She was, but she'd let Henry Hamilton make all the arrangements, including the exchange of letters. He'd long since checked on that.

"There could only be one reason to rush your wedding, but there wasn't, was there? You were already married by the time I knew I was pregnant… if you cared at all, why didn't you ask before moving on? Why did you so quickly marry that other woman?"

He looked out the window. She started again, quieter. "I nearly broke down again, but I had just realized I was pregnant and I had to hold myself together for the sake of the child… children as it turned out. I had to swallow my feelings and figure out what to do… in weeks."

"I'm surprised you didn't go to Mamie Bart and end it."

"Do you realize that if I had truly planned to do that with Bonnie, the last thing I would have done is tell you first? Do you really think I'm so stupid?"

Something in the pit of his stomach gave way. "Then why?"

"I didn't want the baby, but I wanted you to… and you almost said, but then… You just made a joke about how expensive I was."

He closed his eyes. Once again, he discovered a moment where it had all been in his grasp if he'd only taken a single step in a different direction.

Every part of him ached to go to her and put his head in her lap and tell her the whole thing, but it wasn't the right time, and he couldn't let her win this time. "Our whole marriage was a betrayal, Scarlett. You thought of Ashley Wilkes the entire time you were in my bed."

"That isn't exactly true, Rhett. I thought about Ashley much less often than you think. I couldn't possibly whenever you kissed me. You ran to Belle Watling the first minute we ever had a fight."

"You see that divorce was probably the best option."

"So why did you come looking for me? The first letter came from Henry a month after I got to Houston. It had barely ended, Rhett. You barely had time for a honeymoon. He told me you'd tried to contact me, but that as far as anyone knew you were happily married. I didn't see the point."

He couldn't explain that now. There was too much between them, and while he desperately wanted to talk to her, he couldn't admit everything like this. She was clearly still angry with him, and he knew how towering her rage could be. His own rage, at her and at his current situation, was simmering nicely as well.

"Why have you come, Rhett? Surely not to sit in a hot office and argue with me."

He was defeated. "Is there any way I can come back tomorrow and perhaps spend the day with Ella? I'd like to get to know the twins, too."

"You were always good with the children." She smiled kindly. "Ella's in Houston at school, for all the good it's doing her. She'll be home this weekend. I know the twins would like to know more about you. They're very excited to meet an actual sea captain."

"You told them about that?"

"I may have mentioned that the man coming to visit, who looks so much like them, was a Confederate blockade runner."

"So I can come back tomorrow?"

"I would assume that Ewan has already asked Olivia to get the spare room ready for you and is only waiting until you come out and write a note to wherever you left your luggage to send for it. Try to leave Olivia alone, Rhett. She's beautiful, but she's a newlywed."

"There's only one woman I hoped to romance on this trip, Scarlett."

She shook her head and stood up. "I'm Kate, now, and I'm not the prettiest trick in shoe leather these days."

He looked at her in shock. "You're pregnant!"

She put her hand to her very large belly. "Yes. I know I can't interest you much today." She looked down and smiled. She looked up to see his face and got quite uncertain. "Rhett?"

He swallowed hard, fighting to keep his emotions down. It was one thing to know she had a son with the man who was out there somewhere, but to see her heavy with child, glowing with life and what her relationship to the man must be, was something else entirely. As he had when it was Frank and Ella, he would close his eyes and imagine it was him and his child. "My very dear Mrs. Butler, to tell you the truth, if you were to give me the slightest hint of interest, I would have you on that desk in the next minute."

She blushed bright red and gently said, "It's Kate McLure, now, and I'm not married to you anymore." She went to the door and opened it. "Come along Captain. It's time for dinner, and you'll want to wash up first."

* * *

They went into the parlor, and Ewan raised his eyebrows at Kate, who smiled and stood within his arm. Rhett could see the way his hand curved protectively on the side of her her rounded stomach. Rhett's own stomach soured as his hands clenched. It was Frank Kennedy all over again, except instead of Scarlett tilting out of Frank's embrace and looking disgusted, this Kate tilted _toward_ McLure. She looked up at her husband and smiled. Then her eyes got wide and she grabbed the man's free hand and placed it over a spot on her tummy. The child was moving, and its parents made an all too intimate tableau of delight.

Rhett turned and saw the twins. "Where does one go to wash his hands in this house?"

Rhett found himself studying Scarlett as dinner progressed. The most interesting thing so far was the twins' names. Jerry and Bud were short for Gerald and Langston, Scarlett's father and his own. He wondered if she had assumed that some day he would meet the twins after all. The hardest part for him was the way Scarlett would glance at himself, bite her lip uncertainly, then look at the other end of the table and receive a look of assurance from her husband that made her glow. He almost left the table over it. Why couldn't he have ever had that effect on her?

Kate, meanwhile, was having a difficult time eating properly. There was a lot of extra pressure on her stomach, making it harder to begin with, but the way Rhett stared at her worried her. Scarlett and he might have had this sort of family if only. If she hadn't told him there would be no more children, if she had kept Ashley at arms' length on his birthday, if she had told Rhett how she felt that night, if she'd told him she wanted the baby, if she hadn't tried to attack him and ended up falling down the stairs, if they'd only made some sort of accommodation afterwards, if he hadn't rejected her when she finally apologized, if he hadn't divorced her through trickery. Why had he divorced her and remarried? Round and round her thoughts went, but when she looked at Ewan holding their son and remembered the baby within her, Kate emerged and reminded her that she'd done very well out of the horror of her old life.

After dinner, she encouraged Rhett to tell some of his stories to the twins. Wade and Ella always loved his stories. Ewan sat next to her and picked up her hand. Every so often Kate heard him gasp or chuckle along with Rhett's narrative. He was quite the storyteller. The evening grew old and at some point she realized Rhett was sitting next to her and patting her hand.

"Did I fall asleep?" she asked.

"McLure and Olivia just took the children upstairs," he answered. "Scarlett, why didn't you contact me when you knew you were pregnant?"

She sighed. "You told me, the night Melly died, that you didn't want any more children with me. I saw you shudder. You were physically revolted by the idea, and I wanted my baby to be _wanted_. And I realized just days before I heard the news of your marriage. I assumed you were rushing it because your wife was in a fix. Surely you wouldn't want a bastard child added to your brand new marriage that everyone thought was to avoid a bastard child. And, worst of all—"she looked away from him—"I couldn't risk that you would take my baby away from me."

He tipped her face back toward himself. "Scarlett, you know I would never do that."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Like you would never take Bonnie away?" She shook her head. "Whatever I did, I needed to move fast. So I came to Texas, and Tony Fontaine helped me find this place."

He nodded thoughtfully. "You're not wrong. I did bring Bonnie back, but I see how it must have looked to you. Still, if you ever call my sons bastards again, Scarlett, I'll have to call you out. Their mother is not that kind of woman."

She smiled grimly. "I would never call them that, Rhett, but that is how they would look to your gracious and dignified Charleston. How would your wife see them?"

He nodded again, determining there on the spot that Caroline would never be in the same state as his sons while there was breath in his own body. "I suppose you are right. I don't suppose you can show me to my bedroom?" He held out his hand to help her stand up.

She showed him up the stairs and explained about the various facilities he might need and left him at his bedroom door. "It's not as grand as our house in Atlanta, but I think it's quite homey and comfortable," she said.

He kissed her hand. "I'm sure I'll be fine, Scarlett. Unless you'd care to join me?"

She rolled her eyes. "My name is Kate, Captain Butler, and I have a husband."

* * *

 _A/N: We get our title this week from a song written by Johnny Burke and Bob Haggart. I'm most familiar with the Linda Ronstadt/Nelson Riddle Orchestra version, but there are others. It's a haunting song about two former lovers running into each other after being apart, and at least one of them still loves the other._

 _Thanks so much to the readers and reviewers, including **Romabeachgirl1981, gumper, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &5 , beautifulliar326, gabyhyatt, COCO B, Truckee Gal, Asline Nicole, PrincessAlica, annaPanag, samandfreddie, ****gogomohamad229,** and **Jguest.**_


	5. The Grand Tour

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

He dreamed of New Orleans, of his young wife. He dreamed of feeding her and dressing her and holding her long into the sweet nights. Then he fought with her and left her alone, until she screamed in her sleep. "No no no!"

Rhett sat up. He would know that cry anywhere. Scarlett was having a nightmare. He got up and cracked his door slightly open, to see the tall Texan standing at the door that the cries came from.

"Katie, darlin,' it's all right, I'm here."

"He always leaves," she said in a small voice.

"I'll be here every time."

"You're always so good to me."

The door clicked shut and Rhett could do nothing but return to his own bed.

* * *

"I thought the nightmares were gone for good." Kate burrowed into her husband's body. "I don't know why it's been so bad lately."

"I don't mind, Katie."

"Ewan, hold me."

"Is that all you want me to do?" There was amusement in his voice.

"You might… kiss me, too."

She loved his clean-shaven kisses. They never tickled like a mustache would, and there was never any question of whether any of his dinner was stuck in his facial hair.

He held back tonight, so she took his hands in her own and placed them on her body, enjoying the way he groaned and kissed her harder. He quickly understood that she wanted him, and he stroked and caressed and kissed her until they were both senseless.

Bedroom activities got more complicated as pregnancy went on, but they'd found a couple of positions that allowed them both to have gratification. He moved gently, to make sure it wasn't hurting her. She reached with her hand and ran it up his shoulder, pulling him toward her, signaling that he could move more forcefully.

"Ah, darlin'." It was all he needed to hold her tightly as he moved with abandon. She said his name and trembled even as he lost control of himself.

She was far too advanced for anything like him laying on top of her for a moment, so he slid to her back and held her closely.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," was the answer. They dozed until he decided he should go back to his own room. He rolled away and sat up.

"Stay?" she asked.

"Are you sure?" He slid back down behind her.

"It's better this way, isn't it?" She pulled his upper hand over her pregnant belly where there was some sort of faint movement.

He wasn't going to argue and sensed there was something on her mind. "He's a charming fellow. Is he so bad?"

"He wants me to go back east," she said.

"Does he want to marry you?" This came out slowly, reluctantly.

"No." It came out in a sort of sob. "He said he's been looking for me because he was hoping to form an _arrangement._ He wants me to be his paid woman or mistress. I can't figure out which. Is there a difference?"

Ewan was quiet for several minutes. His hand moved lazily over her tummy as the baby settled into a position he or she liked for the night. "You still love him."

"Not like that, Ewan." She rolled to her back and looked at him. Placing her hand over his she said, "This is real, and good. We're building something here at Tara and the people around us love and respect us. The love between us has given us this house, the farm, the ranch… these beautiful babies. All the things he did, and that I did when I was with him… We snubbed good people and I was vicious to people who loved me anyway. We tore a hole right through Atlanta. There were people who wouldn't speak to their own brothers or sisters because of us.

"We did have a beautiful girl, but she died. Sometimes I think it was because we couldn't be happy together. I came to realize I loved him, but I hate all of those things we did, I hate the person I became. He says he loves me, but there's something he loves more, will always love more, so he can't offer me anything real. And now I would always be his hidden woman, his dirty secret."

"So I don't need to help you pack?"

"Will you be serious? I'm married to you. You took me when I was nothing and you showed me what it's like to be loved as a woman and not as some sort of child or pet. I love you. I pick you, even if he could offer me what he did when he first proposed to me."

It was uncomfortable to lie on her back any longer, so she was forced to move to her side. After she arranged all of her pillows to give herself some comfort, she grabbed Ewan's hand and placed it on her tummy with her hand on his. He slid up behind her again and they fell asleep together, holding their child.

* * *

"No no no!"

Rhett Butler awoke to screaming again, but this time it was daylight and the screaming was accompanied by giggles. When he put on his robe and opened his door, a tow-haired child ran through it and slammed into Rhett's pajama legs.

"What's all this?" asked Rhett as he bent down and picked up Aiden. He held the boy and was overcome by the scent of whatever it was Scarlett used to wash her babies and their clothes. If he closed his eyes he would remember Ella at this age. He tickled the little tummy and was rewarded by the child's laughter. He laughed too and handed him to Olivia, who was coming down the hall.

"This little man is so much trouble!" she said. "I tell him it's time for breakfast and he runs away. Come Aiden."

Rhett watched them go and decided he should get dressed and find out what the day would bring. Ewan was at the breakfast table with the twins and Aiden. Olivia was feeding some sort of porridge to Aiden while Mahala was coaching Jerry and Bud to eat well.

"I don't need you to tell me what to eat, Miss Mahala," said Jerry. "I'm going to be five next week. I'll be a man, then."

"Son, I hate to say it, but you'll always need a woman in your life to tell you things," said Ewan over his coffee. He caught Rhett's eye and the coffee went down wrong. He started coughing and clearing his throat. Whose place was it to offer fatherly advice to these boys?

"I quite agree," said Rhett, reaching for the coffee pot. "What would we men be without women to remind us to do things like wash our faces and eat properly? Filthy and hungry!"

"Do you really mean that, Mister—Captain—What should we call you?"

Rhett had given a lot of thought and two cigars to this question the night before. He hated this more than anything about the current situation, but he would do it for Scarlett, at least while she was in her current condition. "Wade and Ella call me Uncle Rhett."

"You know Wade?" asked Jerry. "He's a big boy, 'bout as big as a real man."

"Yes, I saw him just a few weeks ago when he came to visit me in Charleston," said Rhett, smoothly neglecting to mention that Wade had left angry. Rhett had gotten what he wanted, after all. "He is indeed all grown up now."

"Did you know him when he was little, like us?"

"Even smaller than Aiden, actually," said Rhett. "We were all in Atlanta together during the war. Your mother and brother were living with their Aunt Pittypat Hamilton and I was in Atlanta a great deal in those days, too."

Only now did Rhett look McLure in the eye. "Where is the lady of the house, by the way?"

Ewan sipped his coffee. "Kate had a rough night, and I told her to go back to sleep. She won't get any extra once the baby is here. The planting is just about done and she doesn't need to do anything. I thought the boys and I might take you around while we check on the cotton fields."

"Pa, can we ride our ponies?" asked Bud.

"Well why didn't I think of that?" said Ewan with a wink. "That's a fine idea."

Rhett felt his heart constrict. His children called another man "Pa." New rage at himself for getting caught up in someone else's scheme and at Scarlet for keeping them from him made him to stab his sausage viciously.

Rhett finished his breakfast and watched McLure kiss Aiden goodbye for the morning. Olivia smiled and told the boy to wave goodbye to his father and promised to look after Kate when she got up. Mahala was already in the kitchen preparing a tray to take upstairs. Then the twins, McLure, and Rhett were out in the Texas sunshine.

"It's wonderful to be alive on a day like today," McLure said as they walked across the yard to the stable, the boys trying to match the long strides of the two men.

Rhett couldn't match the man's contentment, but he wouldn't argue against the clean air and general beauty of the land. "She picked a beautiful place."

They got the horses and boys' ponies saddled and headed out toward the fields. Rhett had learned to ride as every boy of his station did in Charleston, but McLure rode as though he'd lived in the saddle, moving with the horse in a natural way that was counter to Rhett's training. The boys were of course not nearly so experienced but already had the same look, clearly copying their stepfather's every move. Rhett thought that they looked as he felt on the deck of his ships, and it saddened him that he didn't have a son to teach how to sail. Would there be no end to the losses he would feel on this trip?

The cotton fields didn't look like much, just plowed fields, but McLure somehow knew which had been planted and which hadn't yet. He nodded to himself as they rode around. One field had several workers in it. "They'll be done with that one today," he said, "and the next one over will be done tomorrow. Just as Kate planned."

"She does like to plan," observed Rhett.

"The men in town will tell you they all had their doubts, but she knew what she was doing. She had to take a small mortgage to afford the whole thing and Mr. Collins down at the bank said he would have turned her down flat until he saw the scars on her hands. She obviously knew what it was to work cotton. She got the land, she got mules and workers, and she got more acres planted than should have been possible in the weeks before the boys were born. And now… hell, they come to her for advice now."

"Had you met her back then?"

"No, I was working full time as a Ranger until the day I met her. Now I only work with them when there's a manhunt in this part of the district."

"You're a Ranger?"

"Yep," answered McLure. "And you're still wanted in Missouri. Does your wife know you're an honest-to-God pirate?"

"It wouldn't surprise Scarlett if you told her," answered Rhett without thinking. "She knows I was a privateer and a bit of an outlaw."

"I meant your current, lawful wife. I'll never tell _my_ wife unless I have to. She's under enough strain."

For the first time, Rhett looked his ex-wife's husband eye to eye and understood that he would not be able to charm, threaten or cajole him the way he had the Atlanta old guard. McLure couldn't be bought or blackmailed the way the carpetbaggers and scallywags could. Rhett wasn't expected to submit to this man, but he wouldn't be allowed to step out of line, either. McLure grinned, and the moment eased.

"I met Kate on the day the twins were born." The boys were well ahead of them, looking for some older boys they knew among the workers, so they wouldn't hear Ewan tell the story.

 _Ewan was canvassing every house in the county, asking if a certain wanted man had been seen in the area. He came to the small house across from where the big house now stood and heard a woman groaning and crying in pain. He knocked on the door, and a little strawberry-blonde girl came out, crying. "Mother's hurting bad. Wade went for the doctor, but she thinks the baby is coming fast."_

 _For some reason, Ewan found himself in the bedroom and found a woman who managed to look pretty even in labor. "Are you all right, ma'am?"_

 _"_ _Do I look all right to you?"_

 _Ewan stepped out of the room._

 _"_ _Come back here!"_

 _He took off his coat. His hat was already off, and he brushed himself down as well as he could. Stepping over to the kitchen area, he washed his face and hands and went back into the room._

 _"_ _I just thought I'd clean up a little, darlin'."_

 _She was in between pains and smiled at the sound of his voice. "Thank you. I just—I'm so alone and Ella—well she's a good girl, but she's not really much use at a time like this."_

 _"_ _I understand. My name is Ewan McLure."_

 _"_ _I'm Katie Scarlett O'Hara, and these pains are right on top of each other." As if to demonstrate her point, the next one hit, barely thirty seconds after the last one ended. She grabbed his hand, and he was forced to sit with her on the bed. The girl was standing in the doorway, clearly half taken in a fit of panic._

 _"_ _Ella, could you bring me some of that water and a handkerchief or towel for your mother?" he asked._

 _Ella was, in fact, quite good at tasks that were appropriate or her to handle, and before this pain was over, Ewan was wiping the woman's face with a cool cloth._

 _"_ _Oh, that's much nicer," said Scarlett. "Can you look and tell me if the baby's ready to come out? I feel like I should push."_

 _"_ _I've never done this… not with a human baby," he said. He tried to remember what the manual said about this. The captains mentioned it was more than likely he'd face this situation at least once all those years ago in training._

 _"_ _Please, Ewan?"_

 _"_ _Where's your husband?"_

 _The next pain was starting. "He divorced me," she groaned out._

 _Ewan wiped her forehead and neck down again._

 _"_ _That's it, Katie, darlin'. You're doing so well. Keep going, keep going."_

 _After a quarter hour, she was in the middle of pushing through one pain when she suddenly said, "Oh, oh, oh!" She fell backwards triumphantly. Ewan was holding her baby._

 _"_ _It's a boy," he said. "Do you have any string to tie off the cord?"_

 _"_ _Over there," she pointed at the nightstand. "I forgot a knife or scissors."_

 _"_ _I've got one," he said, handing the baby to her before taking his knife out. He went to the kitchen and washed it with water from the kettle and came back._

 _"_ _The blankets are over there," she said, pointing to the corner. The baby was crying by now. "I can feed him…"_

 _Another pain hit her, as hard as the ones she felt when he arrived. It was a while before they realized there was a twin and another ten minutes until he was born. The doctor came soon after and took over delivering the afterbirth and checking the babies over. Scarlett fed them during this process, little caring that she'd never been properly introduced to Ewan, much less that he had no proper reason to be in her bed room._

 _Ewan held the baby she wasn't feeding and looked at her. She was radiant in motherhood. He felt himself being drawn to toward her._

 _"_ _Where's your ex-husband? Should we send him the news?"_

 _"_ _He won't care," she said, looking at the doctor significantly._

 _Ewan understood. The husband must have already moved on with his life, not realizing that he had a beautiful ex-wife and two fine sons in Texas._

 _Doctor Zimmer pulled him out into the main room. "Everyone acts like she's a widow, but the two older children have let some things slip. It would be best for her if someone married her quick and gave the boys a name. People would stop talking about it fast enough."_

 _"_ _Are you suggesting I should marry her?"_

 _"_ _Do you have a wife or a sweetheart back home?"_

 _"_ _Dead in the war," he answered. Cholera had taken his entire family in Victoria while he'd been at Vicksburg. The life of a Texas Ranger suited him now._

 _"_ _She's a pretty thing, and they say in town that she knows what she's doing. She's going to make a go of this farm. You could do worse."_

 _"_ _But would she take me? Obviously she's had a husband, and maybe she has a new sweetheart."_

 _"_ _There's no one in town who interests her. An old friend of hers lives up by Conroe, but they're not interested in each other like that."_

 _Ewan looked down into the eyes of… Langston, he thought… and decided it was worth considering. He discussed it with Katie after she'd had a chance to rest and she promised to think on it._

 _The next morning, Doctor Zimmer came with the priest from town. Katie had made her decision and was waiting for them, dressed in a pale green dress that made her eyes glow and gave a little radiance to her wan complexion. A woman who came to help her during the days, Mahala, was there to help her dress while Mahala's husband Herman took care of the morning chores. They all stood together in the middle of the yard, Ewan's arm supporting Kate because of the ordeal she'd had only yesterday._

 _There in the Texas sunshine, Katie Scarlett O'Hara became Katie Scarlett McLure. He kissed her lightly there in the middle of the yard and whispered, "It's wonderful to be alive on a day like today." He thought that for just a moment she looked more awe-struck than shocked. When the priest and doctor went back to town, they went to the courthouse to file the marriage certificate and the birth certificates for Gerald O'Hara McLure and Langston Butler McLure. If the dates were fudged a little in order to make the names come out, no one would ever be the wiser._

 _Ewan went to town the day after that to telegraph to his headquarters and check in. It turned out that the man they were looking for had been found already. Within a month Ewan had met with his superiors and resigned his fulltime post in favor of being called upon as needed. He cashed in his back pay and some savings and bought acreage immediately adjacent to Katie's. He'd always wanted to raise horses and now he would start his ranch. Even there, Katie was a help to him. She knew horses quite well from her father and a woman in the county where she was raised, and she was willing to do much of the trading and book-keeping for Ewan, who was just as happy to deal mostly with the horses. He'd gotten a small start, and there was enough money from the first cotton crop to start the big house._

"And she decided not to contact me?" Rhett asked, swallowing away the sadness in his throat.

"Kate has two distinct minds about that. Some days, she wishes the gates of hell would open and swallow you now, and she doesn't think you deserve those fine boys. You divorced her without her having much recourse. When she's feeling gracious, she feels that she's taken up too much of your life as it is. You were so eager to get away from her. She thought you made a love match and it would only bring you harm to have her contact you about children with your previous wife. I wasn't going to argue against it. Love match or no, what you did to her was cold, and whoever left her with those boys, they've been mine since I helped her deliver them."

There was really only one more question. "How did you get from a marriage of convenience to two children, all with separate bedrooms?"

McLure grinned at him. "Are you asking me how to woo my wife?"

"She shouldn't be—"

"But she is, Butler. You abandoned her, and that woman is will never be defenseless, but you will admit you left her in a bad position without any protection whatsoever. The question I wonder about is how a man like you could lose her."

"There were separate bedrooms…"

"Damn, Butler, the question isn't how a man can get a woman like that pregnant so often. You only have to look at her to know the answer to that. The real question is how a man so interested in her could lose her, and you didn't even lose her, you threw her away."

"I went back for her."

"You were already gone, and when you went back you intended to do something dishonorable. How could she agree to that?"

"She's impossible to live with."

"No, she's not. I'll admit she gets ideas in her head and sometimes there's just so much of her that it won't all fit with someone else in the room. She just needs to have her head for a little while and then she's as calm as can be. We have two children because although we have two bedrooms, I frequently spend the night in her room, and every time she has one of those nightmares, I'm there. We have our little frictions between us, but they can't get in the way. She knows I'm here, and she trusts me to take care of her when she needs me."

"She was in love with another man the entire time she was married to me."

"Do you think I don't know what that feels like? Do you think I never see those boys and wish it could have been me in Atlanta six years ago?"

Rhett suddenly realized what the other man just said to him. "She still loves me."

"She tried to hide it from me, but you can't know how she held those babies and cried right after we got married, because she knew you were lost to her forever." McLure chuckled grimly. "It's a twisted, miserable love that makes her fear you and think of you in desperation. Play on that if you think it will help you. You had your chance, Butler. All you needed to do was let her trust you, but she never felt quite as though you were behind her."

"But you don't know what she's like."

"Next week is our fifth wedding anniversary. I'm not inexperienced in dealing with her. I've never seen a woman for worrying over things the way she does, and then she gets headaches and cross and we all have to be careful around her. Then she comes to me and gets apologetic, and for weeks after that she's so sweet that my heart bursts."

It was the Scarlett that Rhett remembered and yet not. Did Scarlett get headaches? Did she get apologetic when she felt better? He sighed. She was indeed sweet at times, sweeter than anyone would suspect from casually observing her. Her artless enthusiasm for life that he could see she still had... he missed it.

* * *

 _A/N: In real life, most country music makes my ears bleed, but this story has a lot of sad chapters that happen in places where country music is prominent, so it will pretty much cover what few songs I like. Today's chapter gets its title from a song written by Carmol Taylor, George Richey, Norris Wilson. It's a bit of an ironic choice because it contrasts so much with what Rhett's witnessing of Scarlett's now happy life. I believe George Jones sang the version most people are familiar with, but I'm partial to Aaron Neville._

 _I've been having a grand time reading all the reviews and seeing my hit counts skyrocket. I actually had over one thousand people look at my stories one day this week! So thank you to all my friends out there, including **COCO B, Romabeachgirl1981, breakfastattiffanygs, samandfreddie, gogomohamad229, gabyhyatt, TheFauxGinge, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 , Truckee Gal, Phantom710, WhitmanFrostFiend, kanga85, LE06301226, annaPanag, ****AnnetheQueen83** , and **gumper.**_


	6. Ocean Front Property

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _Note: I have to say I love the reviews, and I absolutely adore how carefully you seem to be reading the story and finding everything, even when I mess up. Rest assured, I'm aware of some crazy plot holes and fudging that I've done and I can only ask that you'll suspend your disbelief for the sake of the story._

 _I will observe that even after having twins the day before, I don't think it's any hardship for Scarlett to get dressed, walk out into the yard, and stand up for half an hour to get married before going straight back to bed. Scarlett's always had easy births, and having been through several easy births myself, I think they would have had a harder time keeping her in bed for two hours let alone two weeks, which MM seems to think is mandatory._

* * *

Scarlett was in the parlor when Rhett and Ewan came in for dinner. She and Aiden were reading a book. He tried to climb up on her lap to get a kiss before going to his father, and she yelled. "Ouch, your knees and elbows are very sharp!" She smiled as she said it and exchanged a loud, smacking kiss before setting the boy on the floor to run to his father.

In exchange, the two older boys ran up to her and left smacking kisses on each of her cheeks. She looked at them and wrinkled her nose. "You boys need to clean up if you expect your dinners."

"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison. Off they went to wash up, jostling each other as they went.

Scarlett laughed merrily and stood up. "How they do remind me of the Tarleton twins sometimes!" she sighed and then sadly added, "I do hope there won't be any more wars. I don't know how Beatrice stood it when she lost all of her boys."

Scarlett looked at her former and current husbands and put her hands on her hips. For one wild moment, Rhett almost thought she would invite them both to kiss her cheeks, but she shook her head at them. "I see you're covered in dust, yourselves. You'd best wash up if you don't want to eat a peck of dirt for dinner."

"Yes, ma'am," said McLure. He walked over and snuck a kiss anyway. Scarlett turned bright pink and watched him walk back toward the door.

Rhett took the opportunity to walk over to Scarlett himself and kiss her hand. "My very dear Mrs McLure," he said, showing his teeth in the grin he knew she found maddening.

"Oh, Rhett," she said, sounding very much like she had on the Hamilton front porch years before. He followed his host to wash up.

Over dinner, Scarlett suggested that Rhett stay at the house with her that afternoon. Ewan knew she was planning this and why, but he was not fond of the idea. With Aiden taking his afternoon nap, the twins with him, and the other ladies taking care of their own domestic chores, that left Kate essentially alone with the man. He took him aside after dinner as the men assembled the tools they would need for the afternoon.

"Kate says she knows you well and you won't harm her, but I don't know you at all," he said.

"I suspect you know more about me than I do of you," answered Rhett.

"That may be true. I've heard that you're a crack shot and you've never lost a duel."

"The fact I'm standing before you is proof of the latter."

"Just to be clear, Butler, you may be a crack shot, but I've been trained to take you down before you draw. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Rhett smirked. "Perfectly. I assure you that Mrs. McLure will be in safe hands this afternoon."

Ewan nodded. "To tell you the truth, you probably have as much to worry about as she does. She's on the edge of one of her moods."

Rhett found Scarlett in the parlor. "What luck," he said softly, "to find you alone."

"Fiddle dee dee, Rhett, you're hardly going to seduce me to be your mistress when I'm eight months gone with my husband's baby."

He drew back, shocked. "I seem to recall that such topics were not to be discussed in your presence. In any case, I assure you I am more than willing to be at your service."

"If you haven't noticed, Rhett, I'm not a dewy-eyed girl scared of shelling in Atlanta and typhoid at Tara anymore."

"No, you're every inch a woman, and a damned fine one at that, Scarlett—"

"Kate—" she said automatically.

He tilted his head. "Why are you so determined to make me see you as this Kate you've invented?"

"It's who I am now. I still have the narrowest waist in the county… well at least among the mothers, and I still like to dance at parties, plus I like to run my businesses and farm my cotton and haggle with any man who tries to swindle me, but I'm comfortable with who I am. And I love my husband, who's only ever known Kate."

"Do you love your husband who's only ever known Scarlett?"

"I had two husbands who knew and loved me as Scarlett," she answered, "and I remember them fondly. I have no idea what could be said about the third one."

"I thought you were fond of me."

Her eyes flashed and her mouth twisted. "I thought so too, until I realized it was love, and then had it thrown back in my face." That mood McLure mentioned was just below the surface.

"I didn't—"

"Didn't you?" Grabbing her side, she shifted position on the sofa. "Rhett, if what I did to you hurt anywhere near what I felt the morning after we signed the settlement… I know there's no way to apologize or make up for it. I know I couldn't possibly do anything to remove that pain, and I'm sure you feel it yet. I want you to know I'm sorry."

The force of a habit he thought long dead had him reach for his handkerchief, only to see that she already had her own. With a jolt, he realized that maybe she _was_ a different person now.

He remembered she'd had some purpose in spending the afternoon together. "You wanted to see me, madam?"

"I never expected this day to come, or, well, I hoped this day would never come, but for some reason, I've prepared something for you anyway."

"Indeed?" What could she possibly have for him?

"I can't reach… It's the bottom drawer in that chest over there." She pointed to a secretary that took up most of one wall of the room. "If I pull it out, I'll never get back up."

Rhett opened the drawer. "What am I looking for?" He turned around and looked at her.

She gestured with her chin. "It _is_ the drawer. The whole thing."

Rhett looked back around and saw pictures, baby bonnets, and all the sorts of memorabilia that a proud parent keeps of their child. "It's all about the twins?"

"Everything I have about you is in there too, and… and her."

Rhett had dug around a little and saw whom she meant. "Tomorrow is her birthday."

"Ten years," said Scarlett softly. "I thought you and I could have a picnic. There's a place I want to take you."

"Will your husband allow you to go?"

She rolled her eyes in the old way. "Rhett, do be serious. He knows and understands."

"Why did you keep all of these things?" Rhett pulled out a large scrap book and brought it over to sit with Scarlett.

"I have my own copies of all these pictures of the boys, but these are copies for them, and for you if they ever met you. You may have anything out of that drawer you like."

Rhett opened the book at random. There was a picture of the two boys, one on each side of their mother. "You did this for me?"

"For the possibility of you seeing it, I suppose. I thought, just in case you didn't mind the idea of me having your children, you'd want to see these things."

With the realization that she did care for him enough to consider what he might want, a sudden warm affection flooded every nerve of Rhett's body. He turned and brushed a stray tendril of hair from her face. "I don't think I've ever loved you more than I do this minute."

"Rhett—" She made an attempt to slide away but only managed to place her hand on his thigh. She snatched her hand back and turned bright red, trying then to get up. "Oh, I'm sorry, I—"

"Hush… Don't my dear. I won't touch you." He didn't dare. He opened the front of the book and looked at a picture of Scarlett, Ewan, and the twins, taken just a few weeks after they were born. Scarlett looked a bit shocked, as she had after she married Frank, and as she had in her one wedding picture with Charles. Rhett looked at her and realized that she'd only really known _him_ before their wedding out of all her husbands. Perhaps that was why they had the least successful marriage.

"How could you marry a man you'd known less than twenty-four hours?" he asked.

"I just knew it was the right thing to do."

"I understand he was there to help you when the twins were born, but you married so quickly after that."

Scarlett was looking at a framed picture across the room, taken at the same time as the one with the newborn twins. Ewan loved that picture, telling her that her soft smile and the trust she gave him were worth more than hundreds of kisses. She in turn felt that the picture favored Ewan well. He looked proud and optimistic… as though all his life he'd been hoping to come across a needy woman from Georgia and marry her the next day.

 _Scarlett had been so intent on planning the farm she would build that she had quite forgotten how quickly she would need to plan for the baby. There was no place to house the people who helped her on her property, so they had gone home for the day. Having hated her previous confinements so much, she completely forgot how quickly they came upon her. That left only thirteen-year-old Wade to ride to town to get the doctor, and eight-year-old Ella to keep her company._

 _Ewan had arrived out of nowhere, as Scarlett was starting to think the baby would be born with no assistance whatsoever. She had no idea how she could be so forward as to ask him to handle her body so intimately, but his hands were clean and he was gentle. When she was in hard labor, she didn't care who was there as long as they would help the process go faster. He said he knew nothing about how human babies were born, but Scarlett didn't know anything the first time she helped a woman through labor, either._

 _By the time Doctor Zimmer arrived, she was the mother of not one but two newborns, both so much like Rhett that she would have sat down and cried if she hadn't already been in bed. Wade came in after the doctor said he might, white-faced but proud of himself for accomplishing the task she'd given him. He'd also asked Mahala and Herman to come back for the night, and Mahala was making dinner. They could stay in his bedroom; he would make himself something to sleep on in the attic room near Ella._

 _Wade whispered that he thought the Texas Ranger in the main room might stay overnight, too. His name was Ewan McLure. Scarlett vaguely remembered that. Doctor Zimmer had said something privately to him, but all Wade had heard was that Doctor Zimmer thought Mr. McLure was a godsend._

 _Mahala fed everyone and helped Scarlett move to a chair so that she could change the sheets on the bed. At length Scarlett was put to bed and given her dinner. The ranger came back into the bedroom, and Scarlett felt herself turning pink._

 _"_ _Katie darlin', I wanted to ask how you're feeling."_

 _"_ _I'm quite well, thank you. I'm so glad you were here."_

 _"_ _I've been speaking with the doctor, and he told me you're all alone."_

 _"_ _I have Wade and Ella," she said, a little defiant but sad. The more she looked at these babies, the more she missed Rhett._

 _"_ _Katie," Ewan looked at her and then looked away._

 _Scarlett felt herself smiling. "Surely you're not shy, after all we've been through together?"_

 _They both laughed at that. One of the babies cried in the crib they were sharing, and Ewan picked him up. "He's a bright lad, isn't he?"_

 _"_ _They're both sweet." Scarlett remembered Rhett saying that very word as he had caressed her middle the last time she saw him. A tear ran down her face. What was he doing that night? What was he thinking? Did he even care what she was doing today?_

 _"_ _Ah, Katie," said Ewan. He sat next to her on the bed. She took the baby and settled him at her breast. Ewan made a show of not looking. He took her free hand in both of his._

 _"_ _What is it?" she asked, a bit surprised._

 _"_ _Doctor Zimmer said that you're all alone and that you should have a husband."_

 _"_ _I had a husband, for all the good he did me."_

 _"_ _He gave you these two fine boys, and your other two children seem bright."_

 _Scarlett leaned forward a little to speak conspiratorially. "They each had different fathers. One died as the war started, and the other got mixed up in the Klan."_

 _Ewan almost dropped her hand, but didn't. "You've been widowed twice, and divorced once? Three husbands?"_

 _She looked down at the baby and adjusted him a little. "That's the sum total."_

 _He thought for a minute, nodded his head and started again. "Katie, darlin', Doctor Zimmer thinks you need another husband."_

 _She nodded. "It's not likely. I've have had so many, and there isn't an endless supply."_

 _"_ _Why are you making this so difficult?"_

 _Scarlett suddenly realized what he was about to say. She looked down at the baby. The one with the freckle near his eye was Gerald, and this one didn't have it. She looked at her other hand in Ewan's strong hands, calloused, like Rhett's, but so gentle. She remembered his hands on her legs and blushed, this time with a bit of awareness of him. Like with Charles, she calculated what he would bring to her. He was handsome and capable. She didn't know whether he had any money, but she was financially comfortable. That was the right word for everything, she realized. Once Ewan had entered the house, she'd felt comfortable with him and knew that he would help her._

 _"_ _I'm sorry, Mr. McLure, please continue."_

 _"_ _Katie, I know we've just met, but I would be happy to be your husband."_

 _"_ _But surely you have a sweetheart? And Wade says you work with the Rangers? I couldn't take you away from that, and I won't leave my new Tara. I feel as though I belong here."_

 _"_ _Darlin', I'll go wherever you want. I haven't had a place that felt like home since my parents and my Marie all died during the war, but I feel like I can be part of something here. Think of us as business associates if you'd rather. I've always wanted to have a small horse ranch. There must be more land available?" She nodded. There was just on the other side of her lane. "Then perhaps I could buy it, and we could build a house for our family, and if anyone comes along we'd rather be with, well neither of us will be worse off, will we?"_

 _"_ _My last husband divorced me. Don't you worry about what I might be capable of?"_

 _"_ _Texas is a place people come to reinvent themselves. The doc says you've impressed the people in town with your farming skills already."_

 _She thought about it all night. He was at least as suitable a husband as either Charlie or Frank, but it meant giving up on the idea of Rhett forever. If he could divorce her, perhaps he could divorce again. Maybe she should respond to one of those letters. No, he wasn't going to divorce his new wife. None of the letters Henry forwarded suggested that could be the case. All she'd gotten from Rhett so far were demands that she give him her address if she ever wanted to sell the house. Very well, let the house stand vacant. Will and Suellen could air it out once or twice a year._

 _At some point around three in the morning, she was feeding little Jerry, whose wrinkly little face looked like Rhett surely would in twenty years. Rhett would never be gone from her, but this was all she would have. She would say her final goodbye to him and marry the handsome Texan. At four in the morning, while Mahala changed Langston's diaper, she remembered something the doctor had told her. The children would be presumed to be the children of whatever man she was married to when they were born. If Ewan chose to give her and them his name, Rhett couldn't take them from her._

 _When he'd asked her for her name, she'd given him her full name and he never called her anything but Katie or Kate. She'd always thought of herself as Scarlett up until now, but the transition to Kate suited her fancy. She had a new life here and felt herself changing with it. A new name couldn't hurt._

"But how did you go from a marriage of convenience to being pregnant with your second child? I saw that you have two different bedrooms." Rhett's arm went across the top of the couch, behind her but not touching her.

"That's quite a question."

"Humor me."

 _When they first married, Ewan slept on the big couch in the main room. It was a large piece of furniture, just about big enough for him. The bed, in truth, would not have been. There was no question of sharing a bed or relations, since Scarlett had just had the twins. He was gone quite a bit in the first few weeks, finishing up his work with the Rangers and putting together the contracts on the land he was buying. For the first two weeks, Mahala in the bed with Scarlett, to help her with the twins, and Herman stayed in Wade's room. They went back to their own home in town when Mahala assessed that Scarlett could handle the nights alone._

 _When Doctor Zimmer told Kate she was healed from having the twins, she took a deep breath and wore a pretty but not too revealing nightgown and brushed out her hair. Taking a deep breath and wishing for brandy, she stepped out into the main room._

 _Ewan was reading a book_

 _"_ _Is everything all right?"_

 _"_ _I—" Her hand reached for her throat, sure the lump there must be visible._

 _"_ _What is it, darlin'?"_

 _She closed her eyes and opened them "Doctor Zimmer said that I'm ready, for…"_

 _"_ _Katie, come sit down, honey."_

 _He put his arm around her and kissed the side of her head. "You're still in love with him."_

 _"_ _I don't think I'll ever not be in love with him."_

 _"_ _Do you think you could ever be in love with me, too?"_

 _She looked at him and really saw how handsome he was. "I don't know. You are so good to me. You've made my life so easy all these weeks."_

 _"_ _Katie, maybe the doctor is right and your body is ready, but I know you still belong to your Rhett in ways I won't try to interfere with."_

 _"_ _But I'm your wife, and it's your right."_

 _"_ _I won't ask it of you when we're like this. It would hurt you when you are still grieving for him, and it would dishonor my Marie to take you as my wife with anything less than love between us."_

 _She nodded her head and stood up to go back to her room, unsure what she was thinking. She'd never had a husband refuse his rights before. Wasn't she pretty enough? Was he regretting the marriage? She paused inside the doorframe and looked out at him._

 _He looked up and smiled at her. "Good night, darlin'."_

 _"_ _Good—good night."_

 _Scarlett slid the rest of the way through the door and shut it, pressing her body against it._

 _Kate kept working as she had set out to do. She had no where near as much cotton as she would have liked planted, but she only bought the property in March and had a late start. It was hard to get workers, who were reluctant to take direction from a woman who'd just come to the area._

 _She simply had to maintain this year's crop while laying out what she thought she could do the following year. At night, she was sleeping when the babies slept and feeding them when they wouldn't sleep. She was exhausted, but at least she wasn't having nightmares._

 _It was in July, when the babies started sleeping five to six hours through the night, that the first of the nightmares came back. She didn't realize she was crying until she woke up in Ewan's arms._

 _"_ _You're having a terrible dream. What is it?"_

 _"_ _I've had it since the end of the war. I'm running through the mist and everyone I know is hungry and I know if I can just catch up with what I'm following, we'll all be fine, but I never can."_

 _"_ _I'm here, and I will help you in any way I can." He held her until she fell asleep._

 _During the days, she discovered that he was quite thoughtful. When he was in the house, he would help her clean up after the meals or look after the babies when she was poring over her record books. He would bring her flowers from the fields or small things like scented soap when he came back from town. When they all went to town for Mass or shopping, he was an attentive husband._

 _Without much comment being made, he took over with the workers as the harvest started. Kate had found that many workers wouldn't work for a woman, and it irritated her, but the twins were taking up much of her time and the house was nearly done. Ewan respected the plans Kate made, and Kate discovered that she liked the way Ewan got the workers to accomplish them._

 _She couldn't make head or tail of it. It wasn't the sort of courtship she'd received from Rhett. It was more relaxed, and there seemed to be more genuine affection. "It's almost like you find me attractive," she said at Christmas after the children had gone to bed._

 _"_ _Katie, darlin', I've fallen completely in love with you."_

 _She realized that over the time they'd been married, she had developed feelings for him, too. She found herself smiling whenever he came into the room, or folding his laundry and thinking about him. She found out which dishes he liked to eat and made sure they had those more often. More than that, she found herself wishing he could stay with her at night after he soothed her from her nightmares, and it wasn't just because he made her feel safe._

 _This wasn't the high feelings she had for Ashley, which hadn't stood the test of time, nor the panicky, desperate passion she felt for Rhett. She liked it and wanted more of it. "I think I—I think I might, too," she said._

 _He laughed. "I was hoping you might, or that you were coming around to it. We don't need to rush, darlin'." That night he gave her a soft kiss when he said goodnight._

 _They didn't rush it, but Ewan kept courting her, gently becoming more and more of her life._

 _The soft kisses continued, and occasionally a deep kiss. There was always a kiss before bedtime, unless Ewan was away on Ranger business, and the kisses seemed to creep more and more into their mornings, or as they met for dinner or supper as well. Kate found that she touched her lips at odd moments and blushed at the memories. She was more than fond of the man who had come into her life and suddenly made everything fit._

 _They moved into the house on the same day a forwarded letter from Rhett came, and Kate was once again in a big bedroom with a bed in the size she liked with a proper closet and vanity. The echoes of her cries woke her, and she shivered in her bed until the door opened and he was there._

 _"_ _Darlin', I'm here," he said._

 _"_ _Ewan!" she whispered. "He doesn't want me, but he won't leave me alone."_

 _"_ _Aw, honey," he sat on her bed and pulled her into his lap, except that she'd been feeding the babies not long before and never fastened herself back up. His hand slid right under her nightgown and around her bare waist._

 _Arousal was mutual and instant. Kate was wide awake, now, and taking his face into her hands she kissed him, moving her tongue into his mouth to stifle any attempt he might make at apology. She didn't want him to be sorry, she wanted him to touch her. She wanted to feel this fine man within her arms and pull him closer._

 _"_ _Don't stop," she begged._

 _"_ _Darlin'… I want you, but I love you. We don't have to."_

 _She blinked and came to full consciousness. "Ewan McLure, don't you dare stop." Her hands slid down to his chest. "I want this."_

 _He put his arms around her and kissed her, then, deep friendly kisses that promised an adventure. "I love you, my Katie."_

 _"_ _I love you, too," she said._

 _He found the hem of her nightgown and tugged it up over her head. They had to stop kissing long enough to get it over her head, and while they were apart, he got rid of his pajamas._

 _"_ _Katie?"_

 _"_ _Yes, Ewan, yes please."_

Blushing at the memories, Scarlett couldn't bring herself to tell Rhett the full story, but he gathered much from watching her eyes as she described how Ewan had gently brought her ever closer to himself. He understood that the other man had used patience and kindness to do what Rhett would have given anything to have done. Rhett had used the patience, but he'd used mockery and sarcasm due to his own fears.

That night, when Ewan walked Scarlett to her bedroom, she pulled him through the door with her. "Is this for me or him?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" she asked coquettishly.

"I think it matters to you," he answered. "You know I never wanted you when you felt divided between us."

She thought for a minute. "This is for me. I need you, and the more I talk to him, the more I want _you_ here."

"He's every bit as handsome as you've said."

She shook her head. "He's lost something of what he was, but it doesn't matter, it's still him, and he's still thrilling to be around. He propositions me with every third breath, and something in me responds to it, but I can't believe in it anymore."

She stepped close to Ewan and buried her face in his chest. He smelled of horses and sunshine and new life. "The last time I saw him, he spent hours showing me he loved me and saying that I was his love. Then he left and filed for divorce on his way to the train station." She looked up, her cheek resting on the placket of his shirt. "I can't trust him, and I can't really be in love with him like that."

Ewan moved his hands to her face and kissed her then.

 _A/N: Again, I fudged the dates a bit. I think from what we see in the book, Bonnie was probably born well before April of 1870, but it's the way it works, here. There might have been some date fudging by MM, too, since they announced their engagement after the November of 1868 election was tallied, but it seems like Bonnie must have been at least four, almost five when she died and yet it also seems pretty clear that the story ends in 1873._

 _And here we are with yet another Country song. "Ocean Front Property" is easily the sweetest romantic country song I've ever heard, written by Hank Cochran, Royce Porter, and Dean Dillon, and sung by George Strait._

 _Thank you, kind readers and reviewers, especially_ Another Guest, Romabeachgirl1981, WhitmanFrostFiend, Conlyn70, LE06301226, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4, TheFauxGinge, gabyhyatt, gumper, COCO B, kanga85, Truckee Gal, samandfreddie, breakfastattiffanygs, Asline Nicole, gogomohamad229, Jguest, and Aunt Pitty.


	7. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

Disclaimer: Except for OCs, characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns.

The next morning dawned bright and clear. As had been the case on the previous morning, everyone came to breakfast and left as suited them. Kate came down, looking refreshed. Ewan looked up at her with a smirk, which made her blush. She wore one of Rhett's favorite dresses, even though it wasn't terribly dressy or complicated. It was a cotton dress he'd bought when she was pregnant with Bonnie, green muslin with a vine print running up and down through it, and a simple full skirt that fell from just below her bosom. The basque was just snug enough and open enough to draw the eye. He happened to know she had a locket that fell just to where the neckline dipped lowest and wondered where the locket was.

Kate chattered with her sons as they all ate. Rhett noticed that she didn't eat as much as he would have expected. After breakfast she followed Mahala to the kitchen and came back with a basket. Langston and Gerald were upset that they could not be with Uncle Rhett today.

"I'm sorry, dears, but we're going to the patch today and you know that Mama doesn't like noise sometimes when she goes."

"Why does he want to go to the stinky old patch?" asked Langston. "It's just a bunch of flowers."

"He's never been there yet, Bud, and he may like these flowers. You be good for Pa and Herman and we will do something fun together tonight."

"Will you sing for us, Ma?" asked Jerry.

"We will see how Ma feels," said Ewan. "She's pretty tired because of the new baby you know."

"If she's so tired, why is she going to the patch?"

Kate held out her hands to silence the boys. "I'm going, and you're not. Be good today or you'll go to bed early tonight."

The adults made their way out into the morning sunshine. "It's wonderful to be alive on a day like today," said Ewan as he walked across the yard toward the stable. He turned and winked at his wife, who smiled back.

"Is it too much of a walk?" asked Rhett.

"It's just a few minutes," she answered, leading him in a direction he hadn't gone yet. "Next year this will be cotton and we won't be able to go cross lots, but that's next year."

"Am I invited to join you then?"

She looked surprised by herself. "I suppose that would be all right, as long as you don't act like a varmint. And you have to stop being such a cad. Nothing you say will make me betray my husband."

"Would you have ever said that to Ashley Wilkes?"

She could feel herself puffing up, but then laughed. "Ashley never would have made it an issue."

He laughed at her candor… and agreed.

"Will you want to leave your—Charleston again?"

"Anything that takes me away from that virago is a good thing."

"That what?"

"My wife."

"Oh." Scarlett widened the space between them.

They followed a lane for a few minutes, but it disappeared and then as they walked over a rolling hill a group of trees appeared. "It's just through those trees," she said. After a few minutes she asked quietly, "Rhett, was I a virago?"

He thought a moment. "No, you were a vixen and sometimes a bit of a shrew, but you were never a virago."

"I'm not sure I like those other words any better," she muttered. He threw back his head and laughed. This is what he missed about her, and why he came.

Eventually they reached the trees, and followed a path that went through them and he stood on the edge of her "patch."

"I don't like it." He couldn't move, and he wasn't sure he could breathe. "This is—I—I want to go back."

"Give it a minute." Scarlett put the basket down in the shade of one of the trees and tugged on his hands, pulling him further into the patch. "That's how I felt the first time I saw it. I wanted to go right back to Atlanta. I was scared and angry, and I wanted you, but then I remembered I couldn't have you. And then…"

Scarlett had him well into this patch of wildflowers now. There were a couple of red flowers mixed in here and there, but it wasn't the color he noticed. Everywhere he looked was blue, bright blue, royal blue, blue as the Bonnie damn Blue Flag. He let go of her hands and stopped and closed his eyes, willing the pain away. That's when he felt it. Something in the breeze, in the clean air and the sunshine evoked her. He opened his eyes and for the first time since the worst day of his life, blue was a source of joy. "She's _here_."

There was recognition in Scarlett's face—Scarlett, not Kate. She knew, and she felt it, too. This was why she brought him. "How did you find this?"

She laughed, a little nervously, and led him back to their basket. "They're called bluebonnets. I've come to find out that there are fields like this all over at this time of year. More of them are actually north of Houston than around here. If I'd known, I could have bought land much sooner. Tony showed me several good places. They just didn't feel like home. Finally he brought me to this one and another closer to the river.

"I looked at that one, and it was really well laid out. Then I saw this one, and I saw this field, that was only just starting to bud in early March. It cost me more than I could afford and I had to take out a mortgage so that I could buy a farm that includes this piece of land I'll never farm. I had to have this land. I could never plow this even if I never make a profit. I wanted Bonnie's brother or sister to grow up near this.

"If I had bought the other land, I'd be much closer to farming the whole thing… well except I might not have met Ewan." She smiled a secret smile. Looking at her, Rhett suddenly realized how she was different.

"I understand the changes in you, now. You have to keep this exactly the way it is, Scarlett." Rhett laid out the blanket and helped her to sit down.

"I come here most mornings this time of year, just to say hello to her."

Rhett put his arm around Scarlett—his _Scarlett_ , if only just in this place and time—and the two of them sat quietly together. Occasionally one of them would remember something about Bonnie and mention it, and both of them needed their handkerchiefs from time to time. Rhett felt Scarlett get heavy on his arm and realized that she had fallen quite asleep. He gently laid her the rest of the way down and found a second blanket in the basket, which he placed under her head. Feeling a little restless, he wandered around the field a little to explore the land, keeping the trees and Scarlett in his line of vision.

The sun got higher and he went back through the flowers to where Scarlet lay. He imagined lying beside her and putting his arms around her. He thought of how her lips tasted and how her body would feel beneath his hands and mouth. He wondered what she looked like when she was carrying the twins. He could see the baby kicking her now and reached to touch it and pulled back. He didn't have the right. He'd traded it for his sister. He wondered if Rosemary had the slightest idea what he'd given up for her.

Looking through the basket, he found sandwiches and lemonade. He set out the plates and food and poured lemonade into the two mugs in the basket. He walked around the blanket to pat her hands and face.

"Scarlett, my dear, it's time to eat."

She woke, and jumped a little, and then gave him a sleepy smile. "I forgot where I was."

They ate in silence. Rhett was still looking at the field of bluebonnets. "My love, I have a story to tell you."

She moved a little closer and patted his hand. "You can trust me, you know. You might have, long ago."

He lit a cigar and smoked for a while. "It's a horrible story, Scarlett."

"You like to tell me I was a horrible wife and mother. It sounds suitable for me."

"You were never this bad."

Scarlett took his free hand in both of hers. "You're not telling me. You're telling Bonnie. She understands."

"Do you remember my last two visits before that night?"

"Christmas and Easter. You were so good with the children."

 _Rhett arrived for Christmas with an enormous crate and hugs all around. Wade and Ella, who hadn't fully started trusting Scarlett yet, were still shocked and scared because of all the death they'd had in the family in the past year, were delighted to see him. Scarlett hung back around the edges of the rooms, quietly picking up discarded wrappings or stacking cups in corners._

 _Even during Christmas dinner, which included Beau and Ashley Wilkes, she sat at her end of the table and quietly ate, ringing as they were ready for the courses to be changed. She engaged no one in conversation, which Rhett thought was odd, but not even Ashley looked to her to say anything, so clearly this was normal now._

 _They stopped outside their bedrooms as they retired for the night. Scarlett laid a trembling hand on his arm and said, "I didn't properly thank you for the silk. It's the most beautiful fabric I've seen in a long time. I don't know if I'll have any place grand enough to wear it."_

 _He smiled gently. "You're quite welcome, my dear. The cigars are delightful."_

 _"_ _The tobacconist misses you. He said they're new and suggested them, based upon what you've always gotten in the past."_

 _"_ _It was most thoughtful. Thank you."_

 _"_ _You're welcome. Rhett?"_

 _"_ _Yes, my dear?"_

 _He looked at her there, so pretty, so determined and yet so lost. She bit her lip and clenched her hands. Her eyes got brighter and brighter as he watched her give up whatever battle she was waging with herself._

 _"_ _Merry Christmas and good night," she said in a quiet voice, disappointed in herself._

 _"_ _Merry Christmas, Scarlett," he returned, just the slightest bit disappointed, too._

 _In the following week, Scarlett presented a calm if miserable mien to him, anxious to show him a better side to herself, and for the most part succeeded. He found his heart opening to her ever so slightly, and they found the slightest bit of common ground during a couple of afternoons in which they arranged their finances between themselves and made plans for the children. Rhett also gave Scarlett advice for her business dealings. He went back to Charleston with a lighter heart._

 _Rhett returned to Atlanta for Easter. The children were more cheerful yet still sad in the absence of their loved ones. Scarlett, under the guidance he had given her at Christmas, had gained some small amount of confidence. Rhett watched her enough this time to know she wasn't happy and hadn't eaten the way she once did. She was gentler and more often found in the nursery with Wade and Ella, and even little Beau Wilkes, than ever before. Otherwise, he learned from the servants, she spent long hours in the office of the store. Atlanta society did not seek her out, and neither would she force them to accept her._

 _He realized that she was also mourning a third loss. He didn't know how he knew, but he caught her a couple of times, once looking out a window, and once in the door way of the nursery, with her hand over her stomach. Not a word was said, but he was struck by the thought that she'd loved and wanted the child she lost._

 _Rhett decided to spend Bonnie's birthday in Atlanta, and together he and Scarlett went to her grave to lay flowers and pull weeds. After one particularly intransigent dandelion, Scarlett simply sat down and cried into her handkerchief for a few minutes. Rhett looked at her in curiosity. "It just seems so useless," she said. He didn't ask for more detail; he wasn't sure he wanted to know._

 _He left that night on the evening train. She watched him prepare with sadness in her eyes, but pulled back into the shadows when he looked at her. "I'll be back sometime, pet," he said, touching her cheek._

 _"_ _I—I love you," she said, unable to keep the tears from falling._

 _"_ _I still care," he admitted._

 _"_ _I know, kindness and pity," she muttered._

 _"_ _Don't be so dismissive of kindness, my dear. It's what Miss Melanie told you to give me."_

 _"_ _I've been trying, but it hasn't worked."_

 _"_ _It's worked better than you think, my dear. I'll be back sometime." With that, he was gone._

"Why are those two visits important?" asked Scarlett.

"Because I want you to know that my grief was starting to ease and I was coming back to you. I thought… I expected to have all the time in the world. Perhaps sometime the following year I would have come home to stay."

"Why is it important, now? You didn't come back. You found your Caroline instead."

He laughed mirthlessly, angrily. "No, Caroline found me, but the story starts before that."

 _In the waning days of the war, before Rhett had a chance to get back to Charleston and make sure his family was living, the Butlers were in dire straits. Langston had managed to lose all of his money well before anyone else did, and then he got ill. They had to have the doctor, who had some medications that would help him, but it was difficult to get medicine through the blockade lines and it was therefore very expensive._

 _About this time, Rosemary, who was just a few years past her first season, was offered an opportunity to pose for pictures of a delicate nature. There would be money, plenty of money to get the medicine and even some food of a better nature to give Father some of his health. She assented, and went to the place where she was directed to go._

 _She quickly learned what "of a delicate nature" meant. Still, once there, with the pile of money on the table, some of it in gold, she quickly decided to go through with it. They took about a dozen pictures and she got her money, mercifully. These men were honest enough not to swindle her out of what was agreed upon, at least._

 _Rosemary didn't say how she got the money, letting her parents think she must have sold something valuable. In a way, she had. They hoarded that money through the end of the war. There wasn't enough to pay the taxes for the house on the Battery, and they had to go to the plantation, where the main house had been burnt to the ground. The overseer's cottage was still standing, although it was damaged, and it did for them until Rhett could get there. Father wouldn't let them take money from Rhett, but a new source of income arrived in the form of some friends of Mother's, who were getting a regular check from their niece._

 _Father died a year and a half later, and Rhett was able to help the family in more tangible ways, although they were careful to hide the facts of where the money came from. Several years passed, which the Butler family passed in comfort. Rhett was married to Scarlett. He was happy and provided for his mother and sister as well._

 _Rhett's marriage foundered, and after several years he decided to leave his wife. He traveled but went back to visit Scarlett at Christmas, and between the two of them they managed a good holiday for three children who'd lost a playmate in Bonnie Butler and a dearly loved mother figure in Melanie Wilkes._

 _The mischief happened at the St. Cecelia Ball that January, 1874. Rhett had never been before, and went out of his way to be charming and attractive. In doing so, he caught the attention of a young lady by the name of Caroline Bell. She wasn't actually that young, having passed her first season almost twenty years prior, but she was still eager to find herself a husband, and none was more eligible to her eye than Rhett Butler._

 _The next morning, Caroline approached her father, Charles. "Daddy, I want Rhett Butler to be my husband."_

 _Charles looked over at Caroline indulgently. "Sugar, he's married, and by all reports his wife is beautiful and a firecracker. You'll never get him."_

 _"_ _But I want him, daddy."_

 _"_ _The season is just starting, dear. See who else is around." Charles made a note to himself. There was gossip about the elder Butler brother that he hadn't paid attention to, and it seemed that the Butler girl might have something he recalled in her past as well._

 _Rhett spent the season escorting his mother or sister or both to various events. If he was aware that Caroline Bell's name went with her face, that was as much as he knew. He had no idea that any of the debutantes of the current season or of any season past had set their cap for him or that a net was closing around him._

 _In the middle of May, he was invited to the Bell residence. He spent dinner being fawned upon by the daughter of the house, whom he recalled as a bit of a cow on the dance floor. After dinner, he was taken to the father's office, where a series of photographs was placed on his host's desk. Rhett took one look and then quickly looked away._

 _"_ _That can't be real."_

 _"_ _They're real enough. How do you suppose your family survived until your wife's aunts stepped in?"_

 _"_ _Does my sister know you have those? Who else has them? Why do you have so much information about my family?"_

 _"_ _I have all of them, and I can ensure they never again see the light of day, for a price."_

 _"_ _I can write you a bank draft."_

 _Charles smiled. "We don't want money. Caroline has decided you will be her husband. I've therefore looked into you and your connections."_

 _Rhett shook his head. "I have a wife."_

 _"_ _It's well known in certain circles that your marriage is just about over."_

 _"_ _We're on the edge of reconciling."_

 _"_ _I would say it's time to decide it's too late. Buy her off with a fat settlement and marry my daughter. I've spoken to my lawyers, and they estimate that if you can get your Georgia girl to agree, you can be married to my Caro by the first of October. If not, I'll see if the local newspapers want the pictures. If they don't, I'm sure there are other people who want them."_

 _Suddenly, Scarlett never seemed so dear, but Rosemary's absolute ruin had to be avoided. Rhett argued for several days, but Charles shook his head, finally saying. "You'll have to choose, Butler. I will have either my daughter's happiness or your sister's misery."_

Rhett's face was buried in Scarlett's lap. "I'm so sorry, but I couldn't figure a way out of it."

Her hands were buried in his hair and patting down his back. Tears were in her eyes as well. "I didn't realize. I'm so sorry. If I could only have sent money to my aunts before…"

"During the end of the war? You didn't have two cents to rub together."

"If I had been a better wife…"

"It all boils down to I was at the St. Cecelia and Caroline decided she wanted me. Her father was ruthless enough to get what his spoiled darling wanted. God help me, I was becoming that sort of father to Bonnie…"

"You wouldn't have. Your good humor would have kept you from doing something like _that_ , I'm sure.

"I'm not as sure, my love."

He looked out over the field. The afternoon was long and the color of the flowers was fading into something equally lovely but no longer the color of their darling daughter's eyes. Scarlett was repacking the basket.

"Scarlett—"

"It's Kate, Captain Butler."

"But you understand, now, don't you? I didn't mean to hurt you. I had to save my sister."

She looked at him for a moment, her eyes honest and without guile. She spoke gently but without prevarication. "It's clear you couldn't have done anything else, but the result is that you sacrificed _me_."

"Darling, I came back for you. If you had just waited, I was going to buy a house for us on the Battery. I planned to live with you as my wife openly even though I was legally married to Caroline."

She ran to the tree line and threw up in some bushes. Her head was starting to ache. Rhett came up behind her. "Scarlet, please tell me you understand."

"I'm Kate, and I do understand, but Scarlett never would have."

"You don't mean that."

"I do." She moved back toward where the basket still lay. "The Scarlett you made love to that night, the Scarlett who was sick with pregnancy and grief when all the paperwork came, would have gone to Charleston with you if you'd come back in time. I'm sure that she was so eager to please you that she would have done _anything_ you asked. You convinced her that she didn't need a reputation before you and she were even married, and she agreed. But it would have killed her. She would have had to leave Wade with Henry and Pittypat. Ella would have had to go to Tara where she'd at least be near her father's sister. Your _wife_ would have figured out a way to get the twins, and Scarlett would have died in pieces for however long it took."

"You would have had me, and we would have had other children." Now he touched her middle.

Kate shook her head and moved his hand away. "No. Your father-in-law would find ways to remove me from your life little by little until I would have to leave or die." She turned and saw that Rhett had finished with the basket, so she picked it up.

"I'll take that." Rhett picked up the basket and they took the path back through the trees. "You don't forgive me, then?"

"It's not a matter of forgiveness at this point, Rhett. I did forgive you after I bought this land and came here as the person who belongs to it. I knew that you and I had felt the same pain and that I could finally let go of it. I forgive everything, Rhett. But today, from what you tell me… The fact is that you chose your family. It was a fair choice, and a _good_ choice, but you didn't choose me. We can't pretend that you could have ever chosen me."

"I'm sorry," he said bitterly.

"Oh, Rhett, no! I made this beautiful life for myself, and now I could bring you here, and I know it helped you."

"I thought if I told you, if I unburdened myself, it would be better."

"It is! I understand, now, and I feel a little released by it. It wasn't something I pushed you into. The divorce had nothing to do with me."

"It didn't help me."

"Didn't it?" She turned to him and placed her hand along his cheek. "I understand, Rhett, and I forgive you. I accept that you did what had to be done."

He took her hand and kissed it. "Then we can—"

She shook her head. "Things are too twisted up. There's no way we can be happy together, now. Your sister's happiness is still fragile, right?"

He nodded.

Her hand went to her stomach as she said, "And there are children to consider. Rhett, I've learned to be happy without you. I found my place to be, and I think Ewan and I were meant to find each other. Somehow there's a way for you to be happy."

"Not without you."

Now her eyes flashed with anger. "Be honest, Rhett. If you cared that much for me you would have told Charles Bell to glue those pictures to the Battery lampposts for all you cared. You would have bought the glue, but you didn't. You made the only choice you could have and jettisoned the cargo you didn't need."

"I can't give you up."

"You already have. Without knowing what it was you were doing or what you needed, I chose to help you and do what you wanted, Rhett. I signed the settlement. You were doing the same, for your sister. You have a wife, and, from the pictures I've seen, she's pretty."

"I can't be a real husband to Caroline."

"I can't help you with that. I only know I can't be your wife… or your mistress."

Kate squared her shoulders and went back across the fields toward the house. Within just a few minutes the lights of home were visible. He caught up quickly.

"I've lost everything," he said, more bitterly yet.

"You saved your family." She took his hand and kissed it. "Just this week you gained two fine sons—"

"Who call another man 'pa'—"

"Who think you're an amazing man who's lived a life of great adventure, and you've started to make peace with Bonnie."

He started to see the better side of it. "And I found you, and we're friends again." He had started as friends with her once before.

* * *

 _A/N: the song was written by Fred Rose, and sung by Willie Nelson._

 _And now for a confession: There's not much story that's been written and not posted yet, so posting will be slow, potentially not again until Monday the 18th. There are some other fantastic GWTW fics here that are still being posted. I wonder if we can all review those a little bit more and perhaps encourage the other authors to post soon, too? I admit there are a couple that I'm hot to see updates for (For anyone keeping score, I think MS's real first initial is E, but if I'm wrong I'll have fun guessing again)._

 _My author stats are not crying in the rain, nor are they blue. Thank you to the lovely reviewers and readers, including **samandfreddie, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 , gogomohamad229, Romabeachgirl1981, gabyhyatt, Truckee Gal, kanga85, TheFauxGinge, COCO B, LE06301226, ****Asline Nicole** , and **pro patria mori.**_


	8. Take Five

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _For the record, I cherish every single review. I may change my mind if a flaming troll drops by, but I even love it when people ask me if I'm in a legal state of mind while writing this. I know I have a different take on the world than other people do. We all bring something different to the table when we read the original book, watch the movie and then read and write fanfic. I expect that! Thank you so much for engaging in the conversation!_

The next morning, Rhett came to breakfast and saw that there was distinct animosity between the two ends of the table. Scarlett was glaring at a piece of paper in front of her, and McLure looked annoyed but not overly concerned.

"Katie, it says she's a model student."

"Because she can do a Texas Dip better than the Deb of the Year? _That's_ our standard?" She scoffed. "At thirteen she needs to know how many pecks are in a bushel. A fancy curtsey she'll do once in her life won't help her much after there's been a war and Carpetbaggers raise the taxes."

"She's got a couple of A's on there."

"In deportment and penmanship."

"Penmanship was probably my most important skill at Tulane."

Scarlett glared, unwilling to concede the point but knowing she had to. "She got a B in English and a C in mathematics."

"What does she need those for?"

"Some day she's going to have to balance a ledger."

"You like doing that. Maybe she'll find someone who loves her enough to do those things for her."

Kate glanced along the table, noticing for the first time that Rhett was there. "A man once told me that he couldn't love me, despite the fact that I was charming and had many useless accomplishments," she said softly.

Rhett cleared his throat, annoyed with himself for having said so damned many things and with her for remembering every single one of them. "That man was a fool and most likely a liar. He should have carried you off then and there."

Ewan watched the exchange knowing that something was being said between them, and seeing the way Kate looked even angrier, but now at Butler.

"What if it was your Bonnie, Captain Butler? Would you accept such a grade report about her?"

Rhett looked Bonnie's mother in the eye and said, "I see you're hoping to get me on your side, Mrs. McLure, but you may recall that all I've ever wanted for _any_ of my children was their happiness. Had Bonnie gotten a grade report like that, no doubt her mother and I would be having the same argument, but at the bottom of it all, the discussion would have to concern whether my _daughter_ was happy with her grades or not. Knowing her parents, I suspect she would have had the A in mathematics and not even a C in deportment."

Scarlett's lip trembled. "If you're both going to be against me, I wash my hands of it. Ewan, you may tell her what you wish when you pick her up. I need to spend the day looking over this week's progress on the farm." She got up and walked toward the office.

Ewan drank down the remainder of his coffee and stood to go after her. "I put the ledger in the left drawer—"

The door shut. "I know where the ledger is, Ewan," said Kate.

"I wanted to get a good look at you." They'd stayed in their own rooms the night before. She seemed a little wan. "What was going on, there?"

"He—"

"You started it, was that something he once told you, that you had useless accomplishments?"

"He said it wasn't enough to make him love a girl like me. I went home to Tara not long after that, and he was right, Ewan. Nothing I learned before was enough to take care of myself or my family."

"He obviously regrets having said it."

"Not as much as I regret that it was true."

"He's not wrong about Ella, though. Do you honestly think she will learn to figure until she needs to? She's your daughter."

"I don't want her to have to face what I had to face."

"Maybe she won't have to."

Kate's lips came together in a thin line and shook her head. "Work it out with her, because if I have to talk to her about it, I'll probably pull her hair out."

* * *

Rhett asked to go with McLure to pick up Ella. He wanted the opportunity to chat with her away from the rest of the family and for her to suggest presents for the twins' upcoming birthday. He had several years' worth to make up for.

McLure went to the shops and started getting the household supplies for the week while Rhett went to the depot. It took several minutes for the train from Houston to come, but eventually it did, and several people got off while several others got on. After a few minutes the crowd thinned, and Rhett saw a young lady with a cloud of gingery hair. She was looking around until she realized who he was. Her face lit up in surprise.

"Uncle Rhett?"

She ran to hug him, but he shook his head and bent over to kiss her hand. "I was looking for my little Ella, but here I find a young lady. Miss Kennedy, it's a pleasure to see you."

"Mother is going to be some upset to see you," she said.

"I've already been to her farm and spent several days there," he replied.

"You have? I would have expected to hear her screech in Houston."

"She sent me her address herself. I wasn't entirely unexpected."

"What did she say? What happened? Did you meet _everyone_?"

"I met Jerry and Bud."

"You should have been here, Uncle Rhett."

"It sounds like Mr. McLure had everything handled, and I had other things to do in Charleston."

She sighed. "That's what Mother says, and Pa is really nice, but I miss Atlanta."

"Pa" again. Rhett remembered the first time he'd met Ella. Her mother had just finished nursing her in the back yard when he found them. He took Ella while Scarlett had quickly fastened herself under that blanket. Ella had nestled right up against his chest as he worked to get a bubble out of her. Scarlett had been horrified to see her spit up on his silk shirt, but he had simply wiped it off with a handkerchief.

"To tell you the truth, Ella, I miss Atlanta too. I miss having Wade and you and Bonnie and even that horrible house we lived in."

"And mother?"

"It's always a different level of adventure when your mother is around."

"Wade and I, when we first moved here, used to wish you would come get us. Mother said you had a new family now, and we couldn't stay in Atlanta because of the new baby."

"I do have a wife and father-in-law in Charleston, now, and I'm closer to my own mother and sister than I've been in a long time."

"Why did you have to divorce mother?"

He looked off in the distance. "A lot of people did some foolish things, and some evil people took advantage. I should have seen it coming and prevented it, Ella, but I had too many other things on my mind."

"Like Bonnie and Aunt Melly?" She looked sad.

He nodded. "I was very foolish, Ella."

"Has Mother shown you her patch?"

"We went yesterday and wished your sister a happy birthday."

Ella smiled a little. "I'm sure she liked that. Mother was so crazy right before she bought her land. She was so worried that she'd have the baby and no chance to plant any cotton first, but she couldn't find anything she liked. We tried to stay out of sight except for meals. Then she said she found the perfect place."

"Ella, it's very important that you and your brothers call me Uncle Rhett, do you understand?"

"You mean, no one knows that you and Mother were married?"

"Your Uncle Ewan does, of course, but your brothers are too young to understand it yet."

She sighed. "Won't it be better if everyone knows?"

"I think it will, but perhaps not quite yet. In the meantime," he said, pulling her hand within his elbow and watching her simper just the slightest bit, "I wonder if you could help me find a birthday gift or two for your brothers."

* * *

"Mother?"

Kate looked up from her ledger and looked at her second child. As usual when faced with this child, she looked for anything to call her own and failed. Instead of her sleek black hair the child had a frizzy combination of gingery-blonde shades of Frank and Suellen's hair, as though Ella was actually their child after all. Ella's eyes were greenish, but gray in most lights. They were, however, that same alluring almond shape as her mother's eyes. Kate sighed. Bonnie was almost exactly like her, but this child always seemed so different. Ella had many of her mother's facial expressions, but Kate never saw them.

"I have your grade report."

"Uncle Rhett told me. Why is he here."

"You have a C in mathematics."

"Is he going to take us back to Atlanta?"

"Your reading grade is barely a B."

"Can we go?"

"Uncle Ewan says an A in penmanship will be a good thing to have in your future, but you really need to do better at figuring, Ella."

"I can't wait to see our house again, Mother."

"What?"

"I'm so happy that we're going home, Mother."

Scarlett slammed her hand down on the ledger. "God's nightgown, Ella! Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Isn't that why Uncle Rhett is here? To bring us home?"

"Did he tell you that?"

"Well, no…"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because he's here."

"He's on a visit. He's married, Ella, and what about Uncle Ewan? What about your brothers?"

Ella thought for a minute. "Well, couldn't they all come, too?"

"And how is that supposed to work?"

"There are plenty of bedrooms in our Atlanta house, mother. Everyone will be fine."

Kate put her head on the desk. She wasn't going to try to explain why it wouldn't be fine now. "Go wash up for supper, Ella. We're not going anywhere, and you're going to learn how to figure if we have to sit in this office all day tomorrow."

* * *

Ewan followed Scarlett to her bedroom that night. She didn't want him the night before and acted like she didn't want him that night either. He didn't think she really wanted to be by herself, though. She glowered at him as she sat down and unfastened her hair. He sat down in a chair that allowed him to look her eye to eye in her vanity mirror.

"Do you want to tell me what you're thinking?"

"Not really."

"Not yet, or not ever?"

"Not—not—" She stopped moving for a moment, hands clenched. "I'll never be good enough for him."

"The fact that he hunted you down for five and a half years and came all the way out here when he found you would suggest he feels otherwise."

She turned around, throwing the last pin so hard that it and several others bounced out of the dish. "How am I supposed to believe that?"

Ewan stood and ran his fingers through her scalp and then down her neck, trying to release some of her tension. He picked up the hairbrush and started running it through her hair. "He clearly still loves you and wants you."

"Since before he started actively courting me, if you want to call it that, he's made it perfectly clear that I'm beneath him in every way. There's my Irish background, my unladylike tendencies, my childishness, the fact that I prefer to do my own business… He once said that if he was betting, he would bet on me over the Yankees, and then told me it wasn't a compliment."

Ewan watched the way her eyes glittered with the gathering of her tears. "Yet he's never been able to stay away from you."

"Whose side are you on, Counselor?"

"The truth, as always."

Kate pulled a hankie out of her drawer and dabbed her eyes. "Here's some truth for you. He was starting to think we could reconcile, right before the divorce."

"What happened?"

"Someone had some pictures of his sister, and her father got them. He had a choice between his sister and me, and he chose to help his sister."

"Do you fault him?"

"No, he doesn't care about his own reputation, but his family's reputation is too important to him. But God's nightgown! Why am I not good enough? I've never been good enough for him."

Ewan set down the hairbrush and picked her up. He sat on the chair with her in his lap. Holding her close to his chest, he observed. "Quite often, when a man says things like that, he's probably worried that the lady in question is too good for him."

"Why can't I believe that?"

Suddenly the baby started moving, hard work now that there was so little extra room in there. Ewan rubbed Kate's tummy, but kept getting caught in the gathers of her dress, so he just laid his hand over where most of the movement seemed to be. He unfastened her back with his other hand and gently pulled the dress down over her shoulders.

"What's your opinion of me, darlin'?"

She pulled away slightly and looked at him. "You're the best man I know. You work hard, and you've made something of your life. You've done hard things and dangerous things. You're educated, too. You never did poorly in figuring."

Kate's dress was far enough down to her hips that he could reach under it and caress where the baby was, now. His hand that had unfastened the dress reached around her shoulders and pulled her close again. "If I'm the best man you know, and I love you so very much, and if I respect and admire you for all of your hard work, your beauty, your native smarts, and that fire inside of you, how can you not be good enough for him?"

"You're sounding like a lawyer again."

"That's not an answer."

"He's from Charleston," Kate said, as though that should answer all questions.

"Being from Charleston doesn't make him better than anyone.

"He seems to think so. He always acted as if Charleston was the best place in the world, and as though his family was at the top of Charleston. He intended to trade on my mother's family to make Bonnie part of Charleston, too. He could never stay in Charleston before, but he always thought it was better than the rest of the world."

"The world's a lot bigger than that one little town." The baby was hiccupping, and Ewan was rubbing and patting it. "Katie darlin', I'll tell you what. I do blame him. I blame him for choosing his family, for abandoning you, for not looking to see if there was another way. I blame him for leaving you when you were at your lowest and then pushing you still lower with that divorce. I blame him for ever marrying you if he couldn't accept you as you are. It doesn't matter what he thinks, you know. What does being worthy of him even mean? Why should you care?"

"Maybe it's not even him so much as all the time I spent with him. I was married to him for five years, you know, and at the end he acted as though I never deserved happiness. Was it such a waste of my time?"

"You've been married to me for five years now, too, and you've given me plenty of happiness. I hope you've been happy, too?"

The tie of Kate's chemise came undone, almost as if by accident, unless it had something to do with the twinkle in Ewan's eye. The shoulder of the garment slipped from her shoulder, and Ewan spent several minutes enjoying the view.

"If I may put it on the record, Katie, he acted completely without honor. His sister was in a tight spot, but he made vows to you. He took an oath. Did he even ask his sister about it? Did he look for any other way to solve his problem?"

"I don't know. He never claimed to be a gentleman. He always claimed not to be one." Scarlett stretched a little. The chemise once again sat properly on her shoulders, but the loosened neckline now gaped deliciously. Ewan was going to need to put his lips in a few choice places soon, but he wanted to finish the conversation.

"I can't tell you why he made the choices he did, and I can't tell you why he spent half your life trying to convince you that you're less than you are. I know he wishes a lot of those things back now that he's made his choices. He wants you back, darlin'. I've seen his eyes watching you. He wants you, he wants the twins, and he wishes this baby was his, too."

Kate looked into his eyes. "How would you feel if it was Marie? What if Marie somehow was alive and came to find you?"

"That would be a complicated legal situation." She didn't care about the legal situation, and he didn't have a good answer for what she really asked. "I couldn't say for sure, but I don't think I could love her now. The war changed me, losing her changed me, and my time with the Rangers changed me too. She wouldn't know me now and I wouldn't know her."

"And I've had all this time away from Rhett. For five years I've been Katie. Rhett doesn't even know me anymore."

"No, he doesn't. I wouldn't mind knowing you a little better."

Kate slid her hands up his shirt. "Would you?"

His hand that had been on her back slid up her neck to tip her head toward him while his other hand started caressing her neck and shoulders.

* * *

The next week took on a pattern in which Rhett and Scarlett went over to the patch in the mornings to spend a half hour or hour remembering their daughter. They returned in the mid-morning and Rhett played with the boys while Scarlett looked over her business plans. After dinner, Rhett would go out with the boys and men and help with such tasks as they could on the farm and horse ranch.

Together Rhett and Scarlett looked at some financial documents to compare notes on how the investments he'd settled upon her were doing. Rhett looked everything over and saw that she'd managed it quite well, but wondered if he should liquidate some hidden assets. He made a note to himself that he would have a lengthy discussion with his attorney that Charles Bell didn't know about. Scarlett still had one or two affairs being handled by Henry Hamilton. She expected Wade to take them over after he completed his law degree.

In the evenings and mornings, Rhett watched Scarlett's bedroom door carefully. He noticed that although Scarlett and McLure had separate bedrooms, McLure usually came out of Scarlett's room in the morning, regardless of which room he went into the night before. There was one morning that a blushing and smiling Scarlett came out of McLure's room, wearing what was obviously his robe over her nightgown.

He tried not to let it matter to him. It never worked. The first time he realized she had been married during the war, he thought for fifteen minutes about how to get rid of her husband before realizing that he'd been told she was widowed in the same sentence. He spent two years wishing for Frank's death and even trying to plot it until it finally happened.

Now Scarlet was married to someone worthy of her, and he couldn't decide if it was better or worse for him. She certainly enjoyed this marriage more than she had with Charles or Frank, maybe more than him. Rhett had promised her fun, but he'd never quite managed it. As soon as he had the ring on her finger, he had expected her complete allegiance and love without giving either to her. Now she did all of the things that happy wives did, but with McLure. Rhett finally knew what a happy marriage to Scarlett would have been like, because he saw her enjoy it with someone else.

The boys' birthday was a successful event. They enjoyed the gifts they received from the entire family, and "Uncle Rhett" made a lasting impression upon them. No one could compete with their Pa, but Rhett seemed to be someone they liked. He watched Scarlett, doing what he realized she so often did, gathering wrappings to set aside while he and the children made merry. She stayed on the perimeter of the room and let him have the floor, figuratively and literally.

McLure looped his arm around her at one point and pulled her onto the sofa. Rhett watched the other man pull his wife's head to his shoulder and whisper into her hair, stealing kisses as he did. Scarlett nodded and tipped her head up to smile at him. Ella, home for this weekend as well, looked at them with stars in her eyes. Rhett looked at the people in the room and realized it would be time for him to leave, soon.

He didn't want to be there when the baby came, and the bluebonnets were starting to fade. He said his good byes to the children. Ella wasn't happy, but what she wanted simply could not be. He told her if she studied well and made her mother proud, he would get her as special gift. He watched her eyes light up and thought that she was so very much like her mother. He went for one last interview in Scarlett's office.

"I guess it's time for me to go, Scarlett."

"I hope you have safe travel."

"It's a straightforward trip now I know where I'm going."

She shifted in her seat. "Is your father-in-law so horrible?"

"He's pretty ruthless."

"Are we-what would he do about-" She looked out the window and back at him. "I don't want them coming after my children."

"Relax. The way you have things set up, I would have to sue you, and I have no intention of doing that."

"They got you to divorce me."

"That's the only thing they have. I don't share a bed with my wife, and I don't hesitate to humiliate her when I can. I'm certainly not telling either of them where to find you or our children."

"I appreciate that."

She stood up and came around the desk to hug him. She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. He turned his head to capture her lips, but just for a moment. "I love you," he whispered.

"I care for you," she replied.

It was better than fondness.

It wasn't until he was on a train somewhere around the Louisiana border that he remembered her eyes. He'd seen two things there, two things she'd rejected when he'd offered them to her: kindness and pity.

* * *

 _A/N: This is a bit of a filler chapter, so the Dave Brubeck quartet seems the best option here. "Take Five" was from an album with odd time signatures in all the songs and was written in 5/4 time. Al Jarreau's cover is one of my favorites, if you prefer it with words._

 _Thank you so much to all the readers and reviewers, including **WhitmanFrostFiend, Romabeachgirl1981, GWTWRSB, gabyhyatt, kanga85, COCO B, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9, Conlyn70, Truckee Gal, samandfreddie, Another Guest, Asline Nicole, gumper, breakfastattiffanygs, pro patria mori, Aunt Pitty, ****heresvivi,** and **Aethelfraed.** I knew this storyline would be controversial, and you haven't disappointed me even if it's to say that I've disappointed you. I appreciate all of your thoughts and ideas. You're the best!_

 _Please take the time to read and review some of the other GWTW fics here at FFN. I'd love to encourage other authors to write faster, too! I'm dying to know several things, like whether Rhett will contest the divorce or how Scarlett will use her latest realization, to mention two other stories._


	9. I've Got Your Picture (She's Got You)

Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns.

It was mid-June before Rhett returned to Charleston. Caroline was out of the house, and didn't realize he'd returned until she came home from a tea that afternoon. She heard he was home, and there was activity in both his study and his bedroom. Since it was supper time, she went straight to the dining room, where he sat at the head of the table.

"How were your travels?" she asked.

"Pleasant enough," he replied, bored already to find himself at home.

"And how is your kept woman?"

"The only woman I keep is you, my termagant."

"I meant the woman who has half a million dollars of my money."

"You're holding out on me, Caroline. I've seen every one of your account summaries since we married. Where have you hidden half a million dollars?"

Her eyes narrowed, and Rhett grinned.

"I didn't, because you gave it to that other woman." The settlement Rhett had given the O'Hara woman rankled Caroline's soul. He'd said that he had to give her half of his property to get it through the divorce court as quickly as her father wanted.

"Do you mean my wife?"

"Don't call her that. You had it annulled, didn't you?"

Finally, Rhett frowned. Caroline felt strength returning to her. "She was nothing but a mistress to you."

He smiled blandly again. "And even so, we shared a bed, and children, and things you and I will never have together, my harridan. In truth she's more my wife even now than any woman with whom I've shared a bed or even a house."

"One child, who's _dead_."

Rhett reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a blue flower that had been pressed. "One very dear child, given to me by her very dear mother." He smiled in a way that made Caroline's heart turn with longing.

 _Captain Butler was so genteel and manly at the St. Cecelia ball in 1874. When he'd danced the reel with Caroline, she'd felt as though she was the most envied woman in the room, and when she managed to get a waltz with him, she felt as though she was dancing on air. That night after she had been put to bed she imagined his hands all over her._

 _Daddy passed it off as a joke when she said she wanted to marry him, but she knew it wasn't. She knew they belonged together. She found out which parties and balls he would be attending that season and made sure she was at as many as she could get invited to. She asked for all the gossip about him and managed to get it. He was extremely rich and word was that his current wife's engagement ring came from England and covered almost all the space between her knuckles. The current wife didn't matter; they were as good as divorced and had been for years. Caroline continued to build her dream castle and told her father after every party that Rhett Butler was her choice. Finally, just after Easter, he told her that Mr. Butler would propose by the end of the summer._

 _The high point of Caroline Bell's entire life was the moment in mid-August when Captain Butler came and asked her to walk with him in her father's garden. She was radiantly happy. She was sure that Rhett had come to realize that he couldn't live without her, that she was the key to his every happiness. She should have savored that two-minute walk down to the gate that led to the river. Nothing before it and nothing after it in her life would ever come close to that amount of happiness._

 _The first step down was seeing the box from the local jeweler. She was expecting something much fancier, especially since he'd reportedly been travelling. The second was the ring itself. It couldn't be more than a single carat, in a very plain solitaire. What happened to the four-carat diamond surrounded by emeralds that her predecessor was no doubt polishing right now?_

 _The prospective groom himself seemed distracted. Instead of the lofty profession of love she dreamed of, he simply handed her the box with an absent-minded, "I suppose you're expecting this." Then he led her back to the house._

 _"_ _But—" He stopped and waited for her to continue. "Aren't you going to kiss me?"_

 _He looked her up and down in a way that made her feel undressed like a piece of pork being unwrapped from butchers' paper and replied, "I wouldn't dream of it." He quickly walked through the house, stopping just long enough to tell her father, "It's done," and walked out to the street._

 _She decided he must be in a hurry to attend his business, for the wedding was in three weeks. She spent every minute and hundreds of her father's dollars getting the perfect dress, dresses for the wedding trip to New York, and arranging the wedding and banquet to follow. Surely Rhett would be more like a groom when they reached the important day._

 _Caroline was almost as happy as the moment before her proposal when her father met her at the door of the chapel to walk her down the aisle. Starting tonight, the man she loved more than anything would be her husband, and they would be happy forever. As before, she should have savored that moment a little longer._

 _As she got closer to the minister and her groom, Caroline realized that the smile she had seen on the groom's face at every wedding she'd ever been to was missing from hers. Instead of a smile, Rhett gave her a look of disinterest and her father a glower. The ceremony went quickly. Caroline tried to gaze lovingly into his eyes and whispered her vows with a choked voice. Rhett repeated the words the minister prompted him with, showing less feeling than the minister did. After an air kiss to her cheek, they walked out of the church._

 _Caroline was starting to feel that something was amiss. Rhett sat across from her in the coach to the house for the banquet, instead of by her side. He was not exactly discourteous, but gave the smallest responses possible to every attempt at conversation. The meal was no better. He pulled back every time she tried to start a conversation. When they mingled with their guests, Rhett didn't hold her hand or arm. In fact, he didn't behave as though he was any closer or more interested in her than Daddy's business associates who were at the wedding._

 _Once started, the snowball grew and sped up as it went downhill. Rhett was brought to her bedroom after she'd been changed, but he was still dressed. The door was shut behind them, and he just stared at her. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable," he muttered._

 _He sat down on her chair and took out his pocket watch while she removed her robe and sat on the bed. After two or three minutes he stood up. This was it, Caroline told herself, beaming at him with joy. "Good night, Mrs. Butler," he said—was that sarcasm in his voice?" He walked out of the bedroom and she could hear his shoes echoing down the hall toward the servants' stairs._

 _She didn't see him again until the next morning at breakfast, when she met him in the breakfast room. He was drinking coffee and reading the paper. "Your father already left for the day. He'll be back for dinner before we sail to New York." He set his coffee cup down, refolded the paper, and left._

 _That was it? How could this be their marriage? They were planning to move down the street to a different, smaller house that Rhett had purchased. Perhaps he was waiting until they lived there?_

 _The full humiliation of last night didn't surface until mid-morning, when several ladies visited. They made the usual congratulations while smirking, perhaps a little unkindly. It wasn't until her maid of honor, Margaret, came that she knew the full truth. Margo took Caro to a corner and whispered that not ten minutes after being put in Caroline's bedroom, Rhett Butler was seen entering the business establishment of a well-known madam, still in his wedding clothes!_

 _Dinner was a disaster. "Daddy, did you know he left as soon as we retired for the night, that he went to the house of that woman?"_

 _Charles Bell did indeed know by then. "What's the meaning of this, Butler?"_

 _"_ _Mr. Bell, you bought your child a toy. A toy can't love her, either emotionally or physically."_

 _"_ _You are to behave as a proper husband does!"_

 _"_ _As you did to your late wife, Charles?" Rhett raised his eyebrow. "I believe I have that quite well covered."_

 _Daddy blustered. "You will have a proper marriage with my daughter, or—"_

 _"_ _Or what? If you make those pictures public, there's nothing to keep me from divorcing your daughter, and it's well documented that we haven't consummated the marriage. I could go back to my proper wife."_

 _Daddy blustered some more, but there was nothing to be done. For a man with as nefarious a reputation as Rhett Butler had, there was remarkably little with which to blackmail him. Caroline tried for months to change things. She paraded into his office in skimpy nightgowns, gaining nothing but a casual glance and a terse "Good night." Once she walked down wearing just her dressing gown and took it off in front of him._

 _Rhett shook his head and pulled a small painting out of his desk drawer. It was a small woman, dressed in a red gown cut quite low, but fitted so tightly over her lovely curves that there was no question of what was underneath it. The flirtatious look in the green eyes was something the other woman was no doubt born with. Caroline could never copy it if she sat in front of the mirror for a decade._

"Do you expect me to believe that you weren't with that O'Hara woman?"

Rhett looked at the flower and sighed. "Scarlet O'Hara is no more. The world will never see anything like her again."

Caroline hid a small smile. Her rival was dead. "Where have you been, then?"

"Here and there. I spent a week or two in New Orleans, where she and I went on our honeymoon." A fond smile crossed his face. A pang went through Caroline at the thought that he would never think of her, dead or alive, in such a way.

Caroline thought of her honeymoon. They spent the days of that week in the New York garment district, buying dresses and materials, but never doing anything really loverish. Rhett didn't even pay much attention to what she bought. She wasn't sure he'd be able to pick her out of a crowd even now. In the evenings, he took her to dinner, but he was always careful to touch her as little as possible. At night they went into their hotel and he locked himself into one room, leaving the rest of the suite to her.

She calculated. Two weeks in New Orleans, even with travel time, didn't allow for the nearly three months he'd been gone. "You must have been in other places."

He shrugged. "I traveled a bit. Most recently I spent a week in Atlanta. I needed to see some lawyers and there were things that Scarlett put in storage for me that I wanted to get."

"Didn't she have children?"

"They don't need me. There are plenty of people to take care of them."

Rhett was done with dinner. He stood and bowed formally before walking toward his office.

This was Caroline's chance. She ran up the stairs and put on the nightgown that had been intended for her wedding night. Quickly running a brush through her hair, she looked herself over in the mirror. She couldn't compete, but the competition was gone. She slipped into the hallway and down to Rhett's room. The workers were gone and the room was dark. She slipped into his bed and waited.

She woke up when he came in with a candle. He lit the various lamps in the room. The clock said it was an hour later.

After lighting candles on his mantlepiece and straightening some picture frames, Rhett saw her sitting on the bed. "Damn it, Caroline!"

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Rhett, surely with her gone—"

Then she saw the painting over the mantlepiece, that had been hung that afternoon. It was easily four feet tall and three feet wide. It was the same woman as the previous small portrait he'd shown her, here dressed for a grand event. She was in a blue gown with a full skirt, but the bodice was snug and enough to show that she used none of the tricks women would use to make their breasts seem better or their waists seem smaller. Scarlett O'Hara, in all her glory, faced the occupant of the bed with a flirtatious glance.

"Why would you—"

"Nothing is changed, Caroline. If it hadn't been for you, she and I would have reconciled and I would have that in my bed instead of…" He sat down in a chair and saluted the portrait with his whiskey glass.

He shrugged. "I'll leave you here, then. Good night, Mrs. Butler." His voice was definitely mocking. He stood and walked downstairs. She heard the front door slam and knew where he was going. Whenever she attempted seduction, he went to the same whorehouse. Her humiliation was unending.

She stood and went over to his chair. The whisky glass was still on the side table, with a swallow left in it. She drank it and walked over to the fireplace to look at Scarlett O'Hara, of the black hair and beautiful green eyes. Caroline felt washed out in comparison, washed out in comparison to a dead woman.

On the mantlepiece were a couple of photographs she'd never seen. One, she was sure, was Rhett's daughter Bonnie. Next to it was a more recent framed picture of two little boys sitting with a woman. Glancing between the portrait and the picture, she knew the woman was Scarlett. The little boys were the image of Rhett.

* * *

A month later, Rhett had a portfolio in his hands: EWAN JOSEPH McLURE, born October 3, 1836. Scarlett's husband was born the same year as the Republic of Texas, to Joseph and Brigit McLure. He was a good student in school in Victoria… top ten percent in his class at Tulane… married Marie Fortin, born in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana…studied under a top lawyer in Victoria…admitted to the Texas bar in 1860… enlisted in May, 1861.

It wasn't clear what McLure did during the war, but he came back to Victoria to discover his family had all died. He became a Texas Ranger in 1870. In 1875 he married Katie Scarlett O'Hara in Dixon County, Texas, and three children were listed: Gerald, Langston, and Aiden. Currently the owner of a horse ranch in Dixon County.

Scarlett's most recent child might not have been born or recorded yet when these records were obtained, Rhett reflected. He tapped his desk. There were several commendations listed from McLure's time with the Rangers, but nothing from his war service record.

He leaned back and looked at the portrait he'd just had hung across from his desk. There was nothing impeachable about his rival, unless his friends with old Confederate connections found something interesting during the war. There was nothing Rhett could offer Scarlett that she didn't have better exactly as she was.

Caroline breezed in. "Rhett…"

He closed the portfolio and set it in his drawer. "Yes, Caroline?"

"I keep thinking about what you said, about her being gone."

"To whom are we referring?"

She sighed and looked at him as though he were an idiot. "The O'Hara woman."

"Ah, my wife."

"Ex-wife. Did she still have the half million dollars?"

Rhett saw no reason to hide the truth, and he wondered where Caroline was headed. "She had a fair amount of her own money to start with too, and she's made a tidy profit over the years. I would say that by the end of this year her holdings will be worth a full million. She's a veritable Queen Midas." Even if Scarlett herself wouldn't understand the allusion.

Caroline's eyes got big and she swallowed hard. "Will that be reverting to you, now that she's gone?"

Rhett hid his smile. "I'm afraid not. There would be heirs, of course."

Caroline nodded. "Oh yes, her children. Shouldn't they be coming to you as well?"

"They have other family."

"But Rhett, clearly you're the closest family to those little boys—"

There was no hiding the truth, so he would exact every drop of agony from Caroline that he could from this conversation. "Which little boys?" If she was paying attention, she would see that although quiet, his tone was sharper.

"Those boys who look just like you in the picture."

"What picture?"

"On the mantlepiece in your room Rhett—"

"Have you been snooping through my things?"

"I was just—the picture was right _there_."

"And the boys are where they are and where they will remain until it pleases them to be somewhere else. Is that clear?"

The hint of danger in his voice had grown enough to send a frisson down her back. Caroline realized now that she was on thin ice. "If you say so, Rhett, but I wanted you to know I would be happy to—"

"That won't be necessary."

"How old are they?"

"They've recently had their fifth birthday."

Rhett watched her, practically counting the months on her fingers. Caroline gasped with horror.

"You must have… with her practically the day of our wedding!"

"About a month and a half before. So you see I couldn't ruin the memory by sharing a bed with just anyone after that."

"Not even your _wife_?"

"Hm."

"You went to a whorehouse on our wedding night, but _I'm_ just anyone?"

"I spent the night drinking and playing cards. Made a tidy profit, too, as I recall." Rhett leaned back and admired the picture across the room from his desk.

"You didn't want to share a bed with anyone? I thought men needed—"

"I'm older now and less, er, needy. My plan was to set her up in the old McKinnon house down closer to the shore. She left Atlanta before I had the chance to present it to her."

This was a lot of Caroline to stomach. "That house is three times the size of this one!"

Rhett shrugged. "As you've observed, she's the mother of my children. She would have needed the space. I'd always hoped for a fairly large family."

"But I'm your wife! _I'm_ supposed to be the mother of your children!"

He shook his head as though to a small child. "No, my dear, you were supposed to have a different life altogether. If you had found a husband of your own without resorting to stealing other women's husbands, you would likely have wanted the McKinnon house yourself."

"But—" Caroline couldn't figure out what to say next. She turned around and saw the portrait Rhett had been smiling at.

It was the same woman again, the O'Hara woman, holding the hand of her toddler daughter, almost the image of herself except for the blue eyes of the child.

* * *

 _A/N: More country music! Patsy Cline, this time. I considered Toto's "Hold the Line" and the Stones' "Paint it Black," but this was really the best song for this chapter. The only other thing to observe here is remind everyone of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. At our house, we've noticed that they don't always go in a straight line, either. Sometimes it circles back a little, but eventually one gets through it all._

 _I've got some great readers and reviewers, including **gabyhyatt, Phantom710, TheFauxGinge, WhitmanFrostFiend, Conlyn70, Truckee Gal, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5, COCO B, kanga85, samandfreddie, gogomohamad229, Romabeachgirl1981, lescarlett, heresvivi, Jguest, gumper, ****Asline Nicole** , and **pro patria mori.**_


	10. Don't Know Why

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Dixon County, TX, August 1880

Doctor Zimmer told Kate that she was ready to resume a normal relationship with Ewan, and Kate wasted no time mentioning it to him as soon as all the children were down for the night. Ewan was only too willing to take Kate up on her offer. Thus in the wee small hours, Katie Scarlett McLure found herself watching the moon that night with great contentment. She knew she ought to get to sleep, but she was too happy. Her husband was snoring lightly into her breasts as she ran her fingers through his hair.

The remainder of spring had been beautiful after Rhett left. He'd left behind a calmer Kate, a Kate who had faced the best and worst thing in her life and set it to rest. Joseph's birth had gone quite smoothly, and Ewan had been unusually affectionate. Ella had done well, bringing her mathematics grade up to a B, although a shaky one. The cotton was doing well, they'd sold all of the horses they had intended this spring at prices close to what they were hoping, and Wade's preparations for Harvard were going smoothly.

Rhett's situation was the only thing that troubled Scarlett. It haunted her that because she had caused him so much pain, he had left her only to find himself in even greater pain. They had both caused the problems in their marriage, but she was in a happy world now while he was stuck in a loveless marriage. At best, it sounded no better than the marriage he'd had with Scarlett toward the end. Was there anything she could do to improve his situation? She considered what she knew of the old guard in Atlanta and whom she knew in Charleston.

Joseph cried.

Ewan stirred. "Is it my turn?"

Kate kissed his head and rolled him onto his pillow. "He'll want me to feed him."

"I can take care of the other things first…"

"Hush, I'm not sleepy right now."

Kate took the baby and changed him before taking him out into the hallway and then downstairs. She went into the office and sat down at the desk. The fussy baby was quickly settled to feed. She put a piece of writing paper on her blotter and stared at it. Would she really write this letter? Would she mail it? Once she did, there would be no going back. Ewan had looked over the Federal and Texas Code and was sure there was no danger to the boys. If Kate succeeded, the entire city of Charleston would know at least part of what she was going to write. This would be a bigger impact than last winter's telegram, which only went to Rhett.

 _Kate had argued with Wade on the subject for hours at Christmas time. "Mother, I won't have you sacrifice your security."_

 _"_ _Fiddle dee dee. What can he do to us, now?"_

 _"_ _What if he tries to take the boys?"_

 _Kate looked over at Ewan, who answered his step-son. "He'd have to sue just to put himself on the birth certificates, first. It would take months if not years," he said. "Then the custody battle would start. In most cases it would be quickly resolved in Rhett's favor, but this one might take longer due to his absence for so many years._

 _Wade shook his head. "That's if he takes a legal route. What if he tries something? His letters are very hostile and even menacing."_

 _A letter from Aunt Pauline was produced. "They keep saying it's sad that he's rarely seen completely sober around town. He's painfully proper and courteous but sarcastic. He's clearly drinking a great deal."_

 _"_ _But what if he tries something?"_

 _Kate took a deep breath. "We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. I won't sacrifice your education another day."_

 _"_ _I could go to Austin, or even Tulane would cost less…"_

 _His mother shook her head. "You're right, Harvard is the only option that makes sense for you. You've been accepted and we just need to get the money."_

 _"_ _I don't like it, Mother."_

 _"_ _Besides," she continued, "now might be a good time for this. He's going to keep trying, and we're doing pretty well right now."_

 _"_ _He is getting closer," observed Ewan. "His investigators have figured out which hotel you used in New Orleans five years ago. My friends made sure he was put off track from there, but it won't be long before they get to Houston."_

 _"_ _The farm is doing well, and the children are happy and healthy."_

 _"_ _I think Uncle Henry and I should try one more time to go to him directly."_

 _Kate was smiling at something. She reached for Ewan's hand and put it over her just-showing tummy._

 _"_ _Mother?"_

 _"_ _Hm?" she answered._

 _"_ _I think Uncle Henry and I should go to see Uncle Rhett in person this time, speak to him man to man."_

 _"_ _If you want to try it, Wade. I don't think he'll be happy until he ultimately sees me face to face, but you can try it."_

 _They had stopped in Marietta, just in case Rhett was watching the Atlanta telegraph office. "RHETT SAYS NO." Scarlett knew what to do after that._

If she sent a letter to Uncle Henry and let him forward it to Pauline—no, Eulalie would be better for this one—they could keep from exposing themselves completely, although a fair number of details to their lives would be exposed once those old busybodies started talking. It would work to Rhett's advantage and hopefully wouldn't hurt Kate and the people she loved too much.

* * *

Charleston, SC, September 1880

Caroline Butler's friend Margo waddled into Caro's house one morning, shortly after the breakfast. She wasn't supposed to be seen anymore, but this was an urgent matter, and Caro was her best friend, deserving of her support.

"Margo! What are you doing out?" asked Caroline with a wince. This was her friend's second child, and a slap in Caroline's face, a constant reminder that she wasn't loved by her own husband.

"There's a story going all over town," whispered Margo importantly. "Susie Eldridge was over yesterday to ask me if it was true. Is it?"

"Is what?" Caroline had no idea what her friend was talking about.

"They're saying your father arranged your marriage by getting some unsavory information about your husband's sister and holding it against her. Is it true?"

Caroline sat up with umbrage. "Of course not! My husband—" She choked on the lie she would have told. Thinking back over her dubious courtship and everything Rhett ever said about their marriage, she couldn't answer. "I can't imagine that it is."

Margo patted her arm. "Of course not." She didn't stay much longer. She was seven months along and far past the days when she should be at home. Caroline ought to be relieved that the story would go no further, but she wasn't fooled. Margo would tell everyone about her weak response and everyone in town would know that it was now confirmed.

* * *

Rhett felt himself sinking again. His life in Charleston was hopeless. He didn't know how he was to continue. Scarlett had found her life, and he was locked into this house with this stupid woman. Scarlett had been good preparation for this, but even she wasn't as stupid, so completely without reasoning skills. Scarlett had pride, too. Rhett knew when she regretted the separate bedrooms, but he had been holding out for the bigger prize. He should have taken advantage of her moments of regret and hoped that the rest of it would grow. McLure had done something like that with her and now had the wife Rhett wanted.

The only thing that kept him from reaching for the whisky bottle was the portraits he'd taken out of storage in Atlanta, and the photographs of the children that Scarlett had let him take. She had been pregnant when the portrait in the evening gown had been painted, and he loved to remember just how receptive she had been to him in those days. It was no mystery why he'd loved Bonnie so much. Bonnie had given Scarlett to him in ways he'd never had her before. Then Scarlett had given him Bonnie, the darling of his life. If that could only have been enough until Scarlett realized she wanted him after all… Rhett wouldn't go down that path.

He was looking at the portrait of Scarlett and Bonnie in his office one evening when his mother sent a message asking that he stop by. Having nothing else to do, he went right over.

"Do you have any clue where this idea came from?" Elizabeth Butler asked her son. She was waving several pages of a letter at him.

When he finally got a page away from her and had a chance to look at it, he said, "That's Scarlett's hand." He'd often admired her clear copperplate script. She'd gotten high marks in penmanship from the Fayetteville Female Academy, for all that she had scoffed at her daughter's excellent grade in it.

"Where did she get such an idea, Rhett?"

"I don't know what idea she might have, Mother?"

"Read it for yourself," she grumbled, handing him the rest of the letter. He put the pages back in order, sat in a chair, and began.

 _Dear Aunt Eulalie,_

 _I fear I've been quite lazy about sending letters to you. Henry Hamilton informs me that you and Aunt Pauline are doing well with the bank drafts I've been sending to help out. If it's not sufficient, I hope you'll let him know. He's been forwarding your letters to me, and I do hope the roof will hold out, but if you think you need a new one before the storm season gets bad, I hope you will let Henry know and get it taken care of._

 _Since I've last written you, much has happened in my life. As you've informed me you heard, I was indeed divorced by Rhett. It came as a complete surprise to me, as he'd been visiting us in Atlanta at intervals and he was getting on well with the children and he and I weren't arguing, at least._

 _I learned about his marriage to the other woman through your letters. I admit that took my by surprise, but I could only assume there was great love between them and reason not to wait. I admit I was hurt by it, but if he was happier without me I could not stand in his way. I decided that the children and I would need to leave Atlanta and that it would be better if no one knew where we were. We moved to a new state and established a lovely farm here. Shortly after moving here, we met a wonderful man named Ewan. He and I were married in 1875 and we quickly had twin sons. Another son was born two years ago, and our fourth son was born this past May. Life is quite pleasant for us here. If I have regrets, they pale in comparison to what I have now._

 _The reason I write today is that I've run into someone I knew in Georgia this year and have heard the most curious story. This person tells me that Captain Butler is married to his wife because his wife's father obtained information about Rosemary Butler that Captain Butler could not allow to become public. I had assumed, because of the speed of the divorce and wedding, that it was a love match and that they were unwilling to wait or perhaps even in a fix. Now I've been told that isn't the case after all._

 _Are the gentlemen of Charleston so lacking in character? I'd always had the city held up to me as the greatest example of gentility and charm. How can that be if the men of your city treat the ladies in such a way? Are you really treated as nothing more than objects to bargain with?_

 _Obviously, this is none of my business anymore, but I confess to being curious as to what could get Captain Butler to marry and keep him married. He wouldn't marry to save his own reputation in his youth, and he didn't stay married to me for love._

 _There are days when I miss the places and people I knew as a child. I think fondly of my family and hope that you are doing well._

 _Affectionately,_

 _Katie Scarlett_

There were no places listed, and no last name for herself and Ewan, no names for the children. Other than the most recent one, there were no dates. There was a message for all Charleston in the letter, but a very small one for him as well. She'd had her baby in May and all went well. He sighed with relief at that. He resisted the urge to kiss her signature and her affection.

"What is she talking about, Rhett? This story has gotten all around town."

Eulalie Robillard had done her job, if he understood the purpose of the letter. He smirked at the realization that Scarlett had chosen carefully and well. He sighed. "Charles Bell has some pictures. I was told Rosemary was given a great deal of money in order to take care of Father during an illness."

"We'll have to talk to Rosemary about that. In the meanwhile, the information here about Charles Bell has made the rounds. Just today I've heard other rumors that he's practiced extortion on others as well."

"What's the general sense about it?"

"Eulalie was very careful not to mention where she got her information. She only gave me the letter because of you. The people I've spoken to today wanted to know if it was true. I had no idea and said that I couldn't confirm what was going through your mind at that time. But Rhett, if it was true, if Charles Bell had pictures could you answer me two questions?"

"You may ask them."

"Did you ask Rosemary about the pictures?"

He made a face. "How could I ask my baby sister about such pictures? They're… it would be an insult to mention them to a lady."

"You put yourself within the bonds of marriage rather than ask your sister about it? You divorced your wife?"

He looked out the window. "I wasn't thinking terribly clearly in those days."

"And afterwards?"

"I've been more or less drunk since that time until earlier this year."

"I think that leads me to my second question. How did Scarlett get this information?

"I found her, Mother. I've been to see my wife."

"Scarlett?"

"I'd been holding up the sale of our Atlanta house, and she finally sent me her address."

"Where is she?"

Rhett shook his head. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone where she is. She wants to protect the children."

Elizabeth frowned. "Why is she worried about the children?" It occurred to her. "Are the twins yours?" Rhett took a small wallet-shaped item out of his jacket pocket. It was a folding picture frame. "Rhett! What fine-looking boys!"

"Gerald for her father on the left, and Langston for mine on the right."

"How old are they?"

"They were born in April of 1875."

"You were married in the fall of 1874! How could you divorce Scarlett after being intimate with her?"

"I couldn't let Rosemary down."

"It was foolish, Rhett. You need to divorce Caroline and be a father to those boys."

"I don't know that I can, and it wouldn't matter. Scarlett's husband is a respectable man, much better than me. He's raising Jerry and Bud to be fine young men."

"But Rhett—"

"We'll have to see what Scarlett's letter has done. If her use of rumor and gossip is accurate, if there enough other stories about Charles Bell's habits, perhaps it won't matter if he publishes the photographs, and I could divorce Caroline. In any case, it will allow me more freedom as her husband."

"Those children should be here with their father."

Rhett shook his head. "They're being raised far better where they are than they would be here. Can you imagine any child in Caroline's care? I shudder to think what Charles would do with them."

"Does it not occur to you that I would like to meet my grandsons, my husband's heirs?"

"I was disowned, Mother."

"Your son is named after him."

"Not by me. I would have told her to name him anything but Langston."

 _"_ _I wasn't thinking very clearly, and I had forgotten that there was bad blood between you and your father," Scarlett said. "When there were suddenly two of them and one was for my father, naming the other for your father seemed obvious."_

 _Perhaps it was the magical quality of the bluebonnet patch, but Rhett shook it off as he put his arm around his wife—and damn anybody who said she wasn't his wife. She was his very own Scarlett when they were here. It was their own world where nothing existed but the two of them._

 _"_ _It's as good a name as any, especially since you gave him a different nickname. It was his father's name, too."_

 _Scarlett looked up at him. "And you always admired your grandfather."_

 _Rhett resisted the urge, barely, to kiss her. "I take it that Rhett was out of the question."_

 _"_ _God's nightgown! After the year I'd had because of you?"_

 _He kissed her forehead. Then he released her and stepped away. He was closer to kissing her lips more than ever. If that started, he would never stop._

"Rhett!"

He came back to himself, the smile on his face becoming a scowl. "What is it, Mother?"

"They must come to Charleston. They must learn about our ways."

"The boys will never be part of Charleston, Mother. Scarlett—she calls herself Kate, now—and her husband are raising them well where they live. They think he's their father and call me Uncle Rhett, as Scarlett's other children do. It could change, I suppose. They'll learn the truth sometime. They're the image of me, after all. For now Scarlett says, and I agree, they need to stay right where they are."

* * *

 _A/N: "Don't Know Why" might be the title of more than one song. This one was written by Jesse Harris and performed by Nora Jones._

 _On the other hand, I do know why I love the readers and reviewers of this story. **You've all been so very wonderful, including** **samandfreddie, WhitmanFrostFiend, Romabeachgirl1981, gabyhyatt, Aethelfraed, COCO B, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5, kanga85, Truckee Gal, Melody-Rose-20, , breakfastattiffanygs, ****Conlyn70,** and **beautifulliar326.**_


	11. Not Even the Trees

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Charleston, SC, Fall 1880

Rhett spent the harvest season planning his next trip to visit his sons and the woman he would always consider his only wife. He decided Galveston would be his best option for port of entry. By all reports it was a much more civilized city than its sister to the north. He'd heard that in some ways it might remind one of Charleston. It would be worth exploring to decide for himself.

One month was spent looking over nautical charts. He'd been along the entire Atlantic sea coast and much of the Gulf of Mexico, but Texas was a place he'd avoided in the past. There was so little of value to his interests there in his blockade-running days and he'd sailed so infrequently since. The storm season reminded him that he might not wish to sail all the way around Florida, but then, he didn't plan to be on the water during the height of the storm season.

He had a sail boat left in his possession that small enough that he could handle it by himself, although it would run on a long trip better with a second sailor. He decided to travel first to Wilmington and back one week and then to Savannah and back several weeks later. He studied his charts again. He walked the streets of Charleston at night for a couple of weeks, eventually finding one of his old crew who was up for a small adventure. They'd done the run he had in mind, from Charleston to New Orleans, enough times.

Plans in place, Rhett simply had to wait out the calendar. Caroline was suspicious, but there was little she could do. The rumors flying through town had left her vulnerable. The view in Charleston was that the Bells had taken unjust advantage of the Butlers. Several of Charles' other victims had stories to tell, and it seemed that it wouldn't matter if the pictures ever came to light.

 _Rhett and Rosemary sat together on the settee of his mother's drawing room. Tears ran down her face as she nodded her head and told the story that Charles Bell had told._

 _"_ _You see that I had to do it for Father," she whispered._

 _He handed her his handkerchief. "I wouldn't have. If I had been here…"_

 _"_ _You would have let Father die?"_

 _"_ _I would have forced him to take my money, or if he was so sick, he would never have known."_

 _"_ _I'm so sorry, Rhett. I know it's cost you."_

 _He held his sister close, wishing it could have been different. It might have cost him, but he could tell it still cost her, too._

Christmas would have to be gotten through, and then the few weeks until the St. Cecelia Ball. This year it was particularly important. Every family with a secret had to hold its head up high, to prove that whatever Charles Bell held over them was not important. There were whispers in the parlors and drawing rooms, that got very quiet whenever Caro Butler came to visit, but the citizens of Charleston were united.

Early during the ball itself, Rhett stood by the side of the ballroom, watching the dancing and counting down the hours. His mother came to his side. "You should be dancing," she whispered.

"Do you realize, Mother, that if I hadn't come to this ball seven years ago, if I hadn't danced with Caroline, if I had gone to Atlanta and never come back… I might be here tonight with Scarlett. She would be so beautiful. She's so charming and alive whenever there's dancing. I've been every one of the last six years, and I always look for her."

A blank look came into Elizabeth's eyes. "I thought bringing you then was a way to help you. You were so grief-stricken, I feared for your health."

He shook his head. "Everyone has the best of intentions, but sometimes one small mistake changes our lives forever. Now all I can do is salvage the remaining parts of my life, just as I did when Father threw me out and the city cast me off. Why does the city of my birth hate me so much?"

"Not all of it, Rhett. I love you dearly." Elizabeth touched her hand to his cheek.

Touched by her affection, he threw off his irritation. "Dance with me, Mother." Rhett guided his mother to the floor as a waltz started.

She blushed like a girl but acquiesced. He said, "I'm going to see them soon. I'll need to wend my way a bit. I'll probably get there in March."

"Can you give them my love?"

He shook his head. "They don't know who I am to them, yet."

"She will have to tell them before they're in school. Other children will no doubt talk."

"I'll discuss it with their parents."

"Were you happy to find her?"

"She's happy. Her husband is a good man. Much as I hated seeing her with him, I was happy for her and I felt a release of the guilt. It does nothing for my own unhappiness."

"You haven't been drinking as much."

"No, there are reasons to find life interesting, again."

The ball drew to a close and Rhett found his coat and his wife's cloak, offering his arm to her as they went out to his waiting carriage.

"I'm taking a voyage, Caroline. I'll be out of town for some time."

"Where are you going?"

He smirked at her. "I could swear we've long since established that my business is not your business. You may assume that I'll be gone until spring."

"What am I supposed to do while you're gone?"

"Basically, the same things you do while I'm here. I would suggest economizing just a bit. You're going to have a very specific allowance. The lawyers know it can't be increased and that no one will be able to contact me. If you don't want to be grievously embarrassed, you'll have to live within your means for once."

"I don't see why I have to live with an allowance. Did you give one to the O'Hara woman?"

Rhett laughed. "It was usually difficult to get Scarlett to spend her money. She gratefully accepted whatever gifts I gave her, however."

"Did you give her so many gifts?"

He smiled at the memory. "Often, and she was always appreciative."

* * *

Dixon County, TX, Early 1881

Kate looked over the books in satisfaction. They'd had a good year, and the coming year was full of opportunity. The cotton crop had brought in as good a return as the horse ranch had. They would be able to plant more cotton in the coming year and the horses appeared to have bred well, too. Even the Tara in Georgia was doing well, according to the records Will sent with Wade, who stopped in Atlanta on his way home for the Christmas holiday.

Wade spent much of the Christmas holiday with his mother. He was happy that she had found some peace with her life through Uncle Rhett's visit, but he was worried that Rhett would never leave his mother alone again. "He always came back to see you in Atlanta, don't you think he'll do the same, now?"

"He might," she admitted, "but he's accepted in Charleston. That was more important to him than I was at the end. I don't think he's that interested in what happens here."

"Mother, Uncle Henry tells me he spent a week going through the warehouse in Atlanta and looking through various crates. He also opened the safe deposit box you left him at the bank."

"That was after he was here, and it's been months, Wade. You don't need to worry so much. Fiddle dee dee… What would he do, anyway?"

Wade picked up his mother's hand. "I don't want him to hurt you again. We thought you would kill yourself."

"And yet here we all are, perfectly fine. I'm married to Ewan now, and we're all happy with the way things are." Kate patted her son's cheek. "What's more interesting, since your grades seem to be excellent, is how you're getting along way up in the ice-cold North."

"I really like it there. Not that I want to stay there, but it's not bad for an extended visit."

"You're spending the summer with Uncle Henry, after the next term, aren't you?"

He nodded. "I'm going to take over his practice when I graduate. I haven't changed my mind."

On the strength of their apparent prosperity, Ewan laid out plans for an addition to the main house and the budget suggested that the could certainly build it, although they might have to wait to furnish it. At Christmas, he'd presented Kate with tickets for one of the Mardi Gras balls that would be held in Galveston that year. Kate's eyes gleamed up at him and he'd whispered, "Have a new dress made, darlin'."

An odd thought came to her, and when she got the chance a few days later, she went into a box she had in the back of her closet. She found a lustrous silk that had been waiting for an occasion. There was a shop in town that could make a dress worthy of this fabric, but she thought it might be better to go to the dressmaker in Houston.

* * *

February, 1881

Kate came down the grand staircase at the Tremont House on the arm of her husband, thinking that they looked like a fine couple. They'd left the children upstairs with Olivia and Alfredo, with their own small party to enjoy until bedtime. Ella was a little disappointed not to be at the ball, but her mother reminded her that she would be coming out in a year and a half. There would be many balls in Ella's future.

For the first time in a couple of years, Kate and Ewan would have an evening just to themselves. He was wearing evening clothes that rarely left his closet, while she'd had her silk transformed into a full skirted confection that was very open at the top. Kate was a little embarrassed by just how much it seemed to expose, but Ewan traced her neckline and reminded her that they were wearing masks.

When they arrived in the ballroom, Ewan steered his wife to a waiter with champagne. They sipped and watched the dancing for several minutes before giving their empty glasses to a different waiter and stepping onto the floor themselves. It was twenty minutes before some business associates found them and split them up. Kate discussed cotton and horses and Houston real estate with bankers and businessmen while Ewan charmed their wives. Then they stood on the edges in a couple of groups so that Ewan could talk horses and cotton and Houston real estate with the men and Scarlett could charm the wives.

About an hour into the ball, Kate came back to the edge of the dance floor after refreshing herself, looking to see what had become of Ewan. A voice next to her quietly said, "Surely only one cut of that luscious dupioni silk ever made it out of France, and it was in my hands."

She went cold and then hot, well familiar with the Charleston drawl in her ear. She turned, and there he was. "Captain Butler! I declare I'm breathless with amazement!"

He took one step, and without her understanding quite how it happened, she was in his arms, waltzing. "I couldn't stay away, Scarlett."

"But, I wasn't expecting—"

"How could you not? I'm back in Texas to visit my family here, and happened to arrive in Galveston early enough to buy a ticket to this grand event."

"Why would you? We're both married, we have other lives…"

"Ah. Well, as you reminded me last year, you had by far the better end of that deal."

"So now—what? Do I owe you something?"

"I'll call it even with just the pleasure of your company for this song, my dear. Well, that and a visit to your home, with my sons and the clean air, and your bluebonnets."

"Wade will be furious. He doesn't think I should let you visit."

"I think I can handle angry teenagers. Besides he's all the way in Boston."

"Of course, Ella will be delighted."

"Is she here?"

"She's only fourteen, and therefore upstairs. She comes out in a year and a half."

"Thus the importance of the Texas Dip."

"You know entirely too much about such things, Captain Butler."

"Your eyes are very green behind all the satin and lace of your mask, Scarlett."

"You're changing the subject."

"Not entirely. I don't suppose you would honor me with an example of such a curtsey?"

"Not in this crowd. It would be scandalous."

"You're wearing a mask."

"For all the good it did. You found me."

"I was looking for you, and I'd know my own wife anywhere."

"We aren't married anymore. I do wish you wouldn't say such things, Captain Butler. Ewan and I have danced with several people we do business with. They all know who I am by now."

He sighed. "I did hope that you had learned to do without your reputation, Scarlett."

She stiffened at that. "One doesn't get danced with when she has a bad reputation."

He tightened his arms around her until she relaxed again. "And a woman as pretty as you are must be waltzed. So I see that your reputation must be preserved."

"You still talk scandalous."

"And you're still a dream in my arms when I dance with you."

As the song ended, he led her to an outside balcony. As they emerged into the balmy evening, he looked around. "The coast is clear."

"You do know I was never actually a debutante in Texas."

"I also know you. You learned it, and you can do it better than your daughter, whose grade report says she does it better than the deb of the year."

"To be fair, last year they didn't have a very large or impressive group of girls who came out."

"You're stalling."

She sighed, and as he watched, she effortlessly sank down into the skirt of her dress, and at the last moment tilted her head to the side so that her ear was almost to the floor. Then she tilted her head back to smile brightly at him as she rose back up to a standing position. "Are you happy, now?"

"I'm speechless. I never imagined such a thing exists."

"Just another of my charming and useless accomplishments," she said with acid in her voice.

"You should have had your father call me out for saying that," he responded.

"What would be the point? You could drill a dime at fifty paces."

"After that you and your reputation would have been mine to care for."

"That's clearly not how it works, or you would have been married long before you met me."

Ewan caught sight of his wife through the door and grabbed two glasses from a tray as he went out to her. "Darlin'," he asked, "is this man troubling you?"

Rhett bowed, formally. "Mr. McLure, It's always a delight to see you and your beautiful wife."

Ewan forced himself not to sigh. "Butler, I wondered when we would see you again."

"I had some business I wanted to explore here in Texas, and this seemed to be the most civilized of the cities so I'm starting here."

"I see." Ewan turned to his wife. "It's too long since we danced with each other, Katie. Would you do me the honor?"

She smiled brightly. "I thought you would never ask."

Ewan glanced at Rhett Butler before swinging his wife around. "What does he want?"

"I haven't the slightest idea."

"In other words, you."

"He's moved on with his life."

"So much so that he tucked you outside and got you to curtsey for him."

"That was just—it can be hard to say no to him."

"That's what worries me." Ewan stared deep into his wife's eyes and her own got big.

"I would never say yes to—to _that_. And he wouldn't ask. He never did when I was married before."

"You weren't his ex-wife in those days."

"And I'm not his wife, now. I love _you_."

The music changed again, and Rhett tapped Ewan's shoulder. "I hope you don't mind."

"What if I do?"

Kate put her hands on her husband's shoulders and whispered into his ear. "I'm married to you." Did she punctuate that with a kiss?

Ewan smiled and placed his wife's hand into the other man's. "I'll be watching you."

It was another waltz, and Rhett held Scarlett closer than she wanted. "A little more room, please?" she said.

He loosened his grip. "Is McLure the jealous type?"

"No more than you are."

"I had reason. I had to watch you with other men before you were mine, and you never gave yourself to me."

"You spent several years acting as though you didn't really care, Rhett, and I do hope you won't be a cad, now."

He sighed tiredly. "I want to see my sons. I want to see you. You're the only person who makes me feel alive, Scarlett."

Her eyes flashed concern now. "I can't—you can't ask me, please don't ask me."

"Relax, pet. I do know how to behave with some amount of honor. I won't take any liberties, nor will I ask any. I'll have to content myself with your company."

 _A/N: Today's title comes from a song sung by Hootie and the Blowfish, who are native to Rhett Butler's home state. I believe some of the members of the group actually hail from the Charleston area._

 _I hate to have to be so blunt, but given the latest round of people having to defend themselves, I want to clearly ask that you please not comment upon the reviews. Everyone deserves to have their say. I hate to moderate guest reviews and in ten years I've never done it because it feels intellectually dishonest, but I will if any cross certain lines._

 _That said, I adore all of the readers and reviewers out there, including **samandfreddie, WhitmanFrostFiend, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8, heresvivi, gabyhyatt, kanga85, Truckee Gal, Another Guest, Aethelfraed, Melody-Rose-20, pro patria mori, mega700201, Romabeachgirl1981, COCO B, ****gogomohamad229,** and **breakfastattiffanygs.**_


	12. If it Makes You Happy

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Dixon County, TX

Jerry and Bud McLure spent much of March, 1881 pestering their mother, wondering when Uncle Rhett would be coming. "Ma, when is Uncle Rhett coming?" Jerry would ask over his breakfast.

Ma would glare at him and say, "I don't know. Eat your orange."

Then Langston would chime in. "I finished mine, Ma. Maybe we're supposed to go back to Galveston to see him."

"We are not going back to Galveston, Bud. Go feed the chickens."

"It's not my turn."

Kate would slam her hand on the table. "Then go help Mahala with the dishes. I don't know when Captain Butler is coming. I would hate to tell him that you're forbidden from seeing him because of your bad behavior."

Two little boys would quietly excuse themselves and take their dishes into the kitchen at that point. Ewan would sip the last of his coffee and quietly say, "It would be as good an excuse as any…"

Kate's eyes would narrow and she would hiss, "Don't you start."

"I'm not entirely sure he has to come."

"You're the one who enumerates all of the possibilities, all of the legal possibilities if we don't. Didn't you say that we're better off to let him visit for a little while and hope he won't ask for more?"

 _Once Rhett had attached himself to Kate and Ewan at the ball, they had difficulty finding a moment to be by themselves. Kate had some success by introducing him to the businessmen she had spoken with that evening, since Rhett had claimed he wanted to discover what businesses were available in the state. Yet every time she turned around, Rhett was at her elbow, asking for a dance._

 _Ewan wasn't angry at his wife, but he couldn't help being annoyed. When he at last had Kate to himself in their room of the suite they were using, he pulled her close and pushed her against the door, kissing her hard, harder than he'd ever kissed her. Hooks and buttons were quickly unfastened, laces loosened and clothing discarded. Katie, eager to throw off the unsettled feeling Rhett had given her all night, welcomed his possession of her. She clung to him, needing to know he was there and they could trust each other._

 _Rhett found them at breakfast in the hotel dining room on the morning after the ball and invited them to spend the afternoon on his sailboat, which was docked at a slip near the Strand. They spent several hours tacking around Galveston Bay before returning to the slip. Rhett told Kate that he would come in a few weeks to visit the bluebonnets. She looked at Ewan, who shrugged and nodded._

 _It was a quiet ride back between the parents to Tara from Galveston. Kate looked thoughtfully at her husband and compared it to anticipation they'd shared on the way to the island city. "Should we tell him no?" she asked._

 _"_ _How spiteful would he be? What would he try to do?"_

 _"_ _You've mentioned the things he could do. He has judges in his pocket back east."_

 _Ewan rubbed his scruffy face. He hadn't shaved since the ball. "It could get difficult and expensive if the situation was taken to court. Worst of all, everything would be out in the open, and that might affect how the people in town view the boys. How good is he with keeping his secrets?"_

 _"_ _His own secrets? He's quite good. My secrets? I don't know. I've watched him mock people and lay out all of their worst secrets right down the middle of city streets, all while pretending to be perfectly polite. At one point, Atlanta wanted to run him out of town. I don't doubt for a moment that he would expose everything I wanted to keep private in order to get what he wants."_

 _"_ _You seem to enjoy his company."_

 _She shook her head and shrugged at the same time. "He excites me in ways I don't think are good for me. He always encouraged me to be scandalous. Part of me always wanted to do it, but I don't really want to be like that beyond shedding the expectations that would keep me from managing the farm."_

 _"_ _Katie darlin'," he said, putting his arm around her. She sighed happily and molded herself to him._

He wouldn't touch her beyond a hug and kiss to her forehead when they got home. "Ewan, I want you," she said, after several days.

"I don't dare, Katie. I want to own you too much."

"But I _am_ yours, and I don't mind."

"Darlin', making love to you like we did the other night in the heat of the moment is one thing. We needed to prove something to ourselves and each other. If it was how we always were, what would that say about us? That we need to be possessive and jealous all of the time? That there's some bit of rage in our love? I don't want to touch you until I know it's not that."

* * *

A week after they got home, Kate's cycle came upon her with an unusual vengeance. She was bed-ridden for a day, and unable to leave the house for two days after that. She quickly recovered her normal activities, and waited for her husband to signal his interest in her.

When a week passed without him doing more than kissing her forehead in the doorway of her bedroom, she stood on tiptoe and put her arms around his neck. "Are you still so angry?" she asked.

He buried his nose in the space between her neck and shoulder. "Not angry. Worried, yes; jealous, a little; concerned, annoyed… ok yes, angry."

"Come," she said. She tugged him backwards toward her room.

"Kate, you know I said…"

"Hush."

She brought him into her room and sat him down on the chair he usually sat in. Starting with his head, she ran her fingers along his scalp, massaging and soothing his head. She pulled his face toward the bodice of her dress and ran her fingers down along his neck and then along his shoulders through his broadcloth shirt.

She leaned down and rubbed his back as far as she could reach, but by now his hands were around her hips, holding her close.

"I see what you're doing there," he said. He gently tugged at her to sit.

"Do you?" She was wearing the split skirt she wore to ride around the farm and straddled his lap, her arms resting on his shoulders.

He was running his hands up her thighs. "I like some aspects of this skirt, but it makes some things a lot harder," he said with a mischievous smile. He tilted his head up to catch her lips.

"I'm pretty sure we can figure out a way around the problem," she whispered as she kissed him back.

* * *

A morning came when Herman left the breakfast table and then came back in. "Someone is coming up the lane."

Kate and Ewan looked at each other. Kate took a deep breath. "Most of the cotton is in the ground, at least." Holding hands, they walked outside.

It wasn't whom they expected. There were two riders, both men Ewan had worked with. "Hank Thomas was seen."

"It's been a while. Where at?"

"Out by Lake Jackson."

"Headed for the coast?"

"Maybe. He's got a cousin by LaPorte. We've got some men headed south from there, some headed north from Freeport, maybe catch him in between."

"Where are we headed?"

"We're part of a group sweeping toward Alvin."

Ewan looked at his wife. They'd had this argument plenty of times in the past six years, never in front of anyone, always after he got home safely. "Just don't do anything stupid and get yourself shot, please."

"Aw, Katie," he said. He went upstairs and got the bags he kept ready for such occasions. Alfredo was already getting his horse ready. When he came downstairs, he just had time to ruffle the boys' hair and hug them goodbye. Kate had already put together something for him to eat along the way.

"I mean it," she said. "You know how I'll worry every day until you're back."

He kissed her cheek, and then he pulled her close and kissed her lips. "And I'll be thinking of this every day until I'm back, darlin'."

And then he was gone. Kate watched until the dust settled, and then looked around her. The twins were trying to get Aiden to jump off the front porch railing. Kate picked up her three-year-old and put him on the ground, and then took Joseph from Olivia. "You boys just have time to do your chores while I feed the baby. Then we need to go out and check on the cotton fields. After dinner we need to work in the stables. Let's get to work.

Late in the evening, Olivia and Mahala took turns settling the older boys down and putting the house to rights before bedtime. This was the moment when Kate could relax. She and Joseph sat on the sofa in the office. He took his last feeding of the night, and she allowed herself to cry.

She tried not to beg Ewan not to go. She tried to be brave. She was firm with herself that she would never let him see her crying or arguing with him before he left. She did not want that in his mind when he was facing danger. She saved it for when he came back, after a week or more of nightmares in which every one of her worst fears haunted her: His body brought back in a wagon, over the back of his horse… his fellow-Rangers telling her they couldn't bring his body… no word whatsoever…

In the evenings, however, she just sat quietly and waited while the crippling loneliness came. It wasn't like the loneliness she felt when she was a war widow and couldn't go to parties. That was pretty petty, now that she thought about it. Nor was it like the loneliness of the days when they were starving and working themselves to death at Tara. There'd actually been a certain camaraderie in sitting with Dilcey and Pork and figuring out when the next meal would come. It was more like the loneliness of the days when she and Rhett lived on Peachtree Street and he would go off on his pursuits in the evenings, leaving her to consider her own mistakes, but that still wasn't quite the same.

This loneliness was different. She knew what she was missing, now. She and Ewan had formed a happy family together and the best part of the day was the evening when they read stories, played games or sang together. When Ewan was out with the Rangers, it was gone and there was a big empty space in the middle of her day. That vacuum always filled with the dread that this would be the time Ewan wouldn't come home.

* * *

There was a tap on the door one night, just as dinner finished. Scarlett swallowed the lump in her throat that was probably her heart and walked into the hallway to see who had come.

"Scarlett!"

At least it wasn't the sheriff, a telegram, or some other messenger of tragedy.

"Captain Butler! The boys have been pestering me to death about you."

"I'm glad _someone_ missed me. How gratifying."

"I'm sure."

Jerry and Bud heard the voices and ran out into the hallway. Mahala and Herman stood up, she to fix a plate and he to see about Rhett's horse. Kate, along with the two over-eager boys, escorted Rhett upstairs to the room she'd made ready so he could refresh himself. Then she dragged the boys back downstairs to give him some privacy.

Twenty minutes later, Kate sat at the head of her dining room table, holding her baby as Rhett told stories of the California gold fields. The boys stayed up far past their usual bedtime as they listened and, and even Kate smiled a little as she heard some stories that had long since been old to her, enjoying a moment of tranquility that she'd never quite known as Mrs. Rhett Butler.

The clock in the hallway struck an hour much later than the children were usually allowed to be up, and Scarlett stood. Aiden was slumped over into Olivia's lap, and Joseph was starting to fuss for his nighttime feeding. Even the twins were yawing hard as they asked for "just one more." Kate told everyone that it was time for bed.

After seeing the three older children into their rooms for the night, she changed Joseph into his bedtime clothes and went to the sofa in the office for his usual last feeding. She needed it as much as he did. It was very relaxing for her as well as him. After the relaxation would come the loneliness and fretting, but at least she would have the relaxation.

There was a tap on the door, and Rhett put his face around it. "Scarlett?"

She covered herself with a light blanket.

"I'm here." So much for relaxing.

He came in and sat down. Joseph pushed the blanket away with a scowl, and his mother laid it back over him. "It's not the first time I've seen you feed a baby, Scarlett."

He sat and looked at her for several minutes. Her face turned red, and she finally said. "Is there something the matter?"

He shook his head. "I can never decide if you get more beautiful every time I see you or if I just forget quite how my heart skips a beat every time."

"You've complimented me more since you divorced me than in all the time before."

"I didn't divorce you out of choice."

"It doesn't really make a difference to the end result."

He decided not to engage in that line of discussion.

"Where's McLure? Dare I hope he's had a lapse in judgement and left you?"

"Of course not," she snapped. "He's helping to track a criminal who's near here. From the sound of it, he's someone Ewan dealt with before."

"That sounds dangerous."

"He does it a few times a year. Never when I'm—when there's going to be a new baby."

"How long has he been gone?"

 _Seven days, twelve hours and twenty minutes._ "About a week."

"That must be difficult for you."

"It's not the most enjoyable part of my marriage, but as you may recall I had a husband who would go off on some unspecified business for months at a time, and even when in town would leave me alone quite a few evenings in order to drink and _… engage_ with other women."

 _Some grudges never die._ "How do you know McLure's not doing the same?"

She looked down at her baby and smiled. "I guess I don't, but I can trust him. He trusts me, too."

"That must be the difference. I never felt that you trusted or loved me."

"I guess we just didn't suit."

"There were moments, though…"

She looked into his eyes. "There were some beautiful moments, but you always seemed to find some fault with me in the middle of them. I could never just enjoy the slightest bit of happiness with you for fear you'd mock me about it."

"If I had ever shown you my love, you would have tortured me with it."

"So whenever I had the softest feeling toward you, you tortured me."

"That's not how it was," he said.

"That's _exactly_ how it was," she responded.

He opened his mouth to argue the point but shut it again. She had behaved horribly toward him, and he never treated her any better. Was there any reason to believe it ever could have been better?"

He looked at her, and her beauty washed over him again. Yes, when he thought of all the pleasant conversations they'd had, of the things they had worked together on, and oh yes, the nights when she would curl into him like a kitten, he knew it could have been _much_ better.

It just wasn't.

* * *

 _A/N: This chapter didn't go where I'd thought it would, so I had to figure out a different song than I would have used and remembered this one, sung by Sheryl Crow._

 _My readers and reviewers make me quite happy, including **WhitmanFrostFiend, Aethelfraed, gabyhyatt, Conlyn70, COCO B, Phantom710, kanga85, Melody-Rose-20, Truckee Gal, Mistress, breakfastattiffanygs, mega700201, Guest,** **gumper,** and **romabeachgirl**_


	13. Clair de Lune

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _I'm not sure the email notifications are working, so if you just got here and wonder why it took me a few extra days, you might check and see if you've read Chapter Twelve yet._

* * *

 _Atlanta was burning in a red-gold glow in the distance. That didn't matter. The only thing that really existed was the woman in his arms who was clinging to him. He kissed her, over and over again. No forbidden fruit ever tasted sweeter. If only she would recognize how they belonged together. They needed nothing but each other, no Confederacy, no marriage, no old guard, no family…_

He awoke to the sound of childish laughter and small feet pounding down the hallway. He lay in his bed and remembered where he was. After a long sail around Florida, he and his old friend, Pitt, made their way to New Orleans. He spent some time with his bankers there, reviewing the bank accounts his wives never knew about. Then he continued to Galveston by himself and explored. After a few weeks in that city and Houston, he made his way to Scarlett's house, arriving later in the day than he intended.

She gave him his dinner while the twins gave him the adulation he craved. Then she'd put him in a comfortable bedroom and wished him good night. He had the best night of sleep that he could remember in almost a year and woke to bright sunshine.

This house was nothing like what he wanted, when he thought about what he wanted. Yet it was filled with that something that soothed him and made him feel welcome. The reason for that was of course Scarlett, who had built this house and assembled a group of people to help her from various displaced people who hadn't found homes during reconstruction. She'd had a hard life during the war and after it, but she learned her lessons.

"I don't think I can get out to the patch today," Scarlett told him apologetically over breakfast. "I need to ride around the cotton fields this morning and this afternoon there's a man coming to look at some of the horses."

"Maybe tomorrow, then?"

"We'll see."

Rhett walked all the way around the bluebonnet field, and took out the copies of the plats he'd brought with him. He sat under Scarlett's trees and watched the flowers change color as the daylight changed.

He thought of Bonnie and of all the things they had done in her young life. Perhaps, if he'd been like the other fathers he'd known, he might have only seen her in many years as much as he was with her in her short life. He shook his head at what those fathers missed, at what he was missing with Gerald and Langston. That wasn't a line of thought he wanted to follow today, the first day in a year he was back in this spot where Bonnie was closer to him than anywhere he'd gone since her death.

Kate was tired but content at dinner. A full day of work followed by time with her family agreed with her. She smiled and chatted with the children, chivvying them to finish their plates, and then she guided them to the parlor to play and read before bedtime. Tonight Rhett was again the center of attention, and she was perfectly happy to rest and let him entertain the children.

 _They were arguing, and he knew there was something wrong. He needed to make it stop somehow, but they just didn't. Suddenly she was falling down, down, down. He ran to the bottom of the stairs, calling for help as he went… and then it was candlelight, and he was staring at her door. Weakly her voice came to him. "It's useless… He'll never come…"_

He sat up. She was crying in her sleep. He went to his door and cracked it open. She was still crying. He walked over to her door and tapped on it. "Scarlett?"

"Why won't he come?"

"Scarlett, honey, it's just a dream." He tapped on the door again.

It was quiet a moment. Then— "Rhett?"

"I think you're having a nightmare."

She sighed loudly. "It's always the same."

"Where you're running in the mist?"

"No, that one is finally gone, usually. In this one, I'm safe and happy, and then I go outside into the mist and someone is there to tell me my husband is dead."

He let that sit for a while. "I'm here, Scarlett. If it happens this time… Well, I'm here."

"How is Charleston?" Her voice was closer now. She must be on the other side of the door.

"Better, since your letter to Eulalie."

"I'd rather you not mention it in front of Ewan. He's pretty sore at me for sending it."

"It was good for a lot of people that you did. Do you have any idea how many people Charles Bell was extorting?"

"I didn't care about that, but if it's helpful, I won't feel so guilty."

"My mother wants to meet the boys."

"You know that's a bad idea. Ewan would never stand for it."

"She knows it's a bad idea too, but she still tries."

There was a loud sigh. "I guess I should go back to sleep."

"Scarlett?"

"The name is Kate, Captain Butler."

"Not for what I want to say. Scarlett, I'm sorry I threw your nightmares in your face when you told me you wanted separate rooms."

"Why would you— _now_?"

"I have nothing to do in Charleston but wonder if I could have done anything differently."

"As you were only too happy to point out, I should have done _everything_ differently."

"If I had not mocked you about that, would you have come to me?"

Nothing came at first, then a quiet, "Maybe."

"And if I hadn't made such a point of it, perhaps my pride would have allowed me to come to you when I heard you."

"You heard me?" He heard her sigh again. "Well, that's humiliating. I should go back to bed, and so should you. Good night, Captain Butler."

"Good night, Mrs. McLure."

* * *

The next morning found Kate stiffly sipping a cup of coffee at the breakfast table. When Rhett came down, she said nothing for a quarter of an hour. As the boys finished their breakfasts, she finally said, "I think I have time to go to the patch, but Jerry and Bud will need to go with us."

"Aw, Ma! Why do I have to go to the patch?"

"Because, Langston," she replied. "I haven't been all week, and I cannot leave you here."

"Olivia's here."

"Olivia has enough to do with Aiden and Joey. The last time I left her here with the two of you as well, you ruined my curtains and nearly set fire to the parlor."

"We just wanted to see if a magnifying glass would really—"

"Yes, Gerald, I know."

"We won't do it again!"

"That's a relief, but there are thousands of other things you might take it into your heads to do, and I won't have it. Go do your chores while I take care of the baby, and we'll have a picnic. You may ask Uncle Rhett about Bonnie Blue."

"He never saw bluebonnets before he came here, Ma, he said so."

"That's a mystery you can clear up, then." Kate stood up and took the baby with her to the office. Rhett watched her go with narrowed eyes as he poured himself another half cup of coffee.

Jerry stared at him. "What did Ma mean about Bonnie Blue?"

"She's a little girl your mother and I had-the acquaintance of."

"What did she look like?"

"Almost exactly like your mother, but with blue eyes, just the color of the bluebonnets in the patch when the sun is high."

"So she was related to Ma, sort of like we're related to you?" asked Bud.

"Precisely."

"Where is she now?"

"She—she died." Rhett swallowed his sadness. Bonnie would never be as old as these two fine boys were.

"What happened to her?"

"She rode her pony, much like you do, but she liked to jump, and she wanted to take a jump she wasn't ready for. Her pony refused, and she was thrown. Your mother and I were very sad when that happened, and the flowers in the patch make your mother happier."

There was no more argument about going to the patch.

* * *

That afternoon, they were cleaning in the stable when there was a commotion down the lane. Kate listened for a moment, when she caught a certain sound or rhythm and smiled brightly. She ran out into the yard. True to her expectation, Ewan was riding up, although there were several other horses as well. Scarlett recognized the other rangers, but she realized the person she didn't recognized had his hands tied together and someone else was holding his horse's reins.

"Ewan, you brought your work home with you again," she said with exasperation.

"We're headed to the depot to take him to the Houston train station. Some federal marshals are taking him from there. We're stopping for just a moment to give the horses and the men a rest. Could you bring the men some water, darlin'?"

Rhett and the boys came out of the stable to see what the noise was in the yard. The captive saw him and hollered out, "Rhett Butler, as I live and breathe. How did you get on the right side of the law?"

"Hank?" Rhett folded his arms over his chest and walked over. "Your brother hasn't shot you yet?"

"I got him first. How did you ever get away from those soldiers?"

Rhett smirked. "I just explained to them the rights of the situation, and they came to see it from my point of view."

"Fine boys you've got there." He nodded toward Gerald and Langston.

"Those boys?" Rhett turned around and winked at them as though the joke was on the other man. "They're kin and all, but Mr. Mc Lure over there is their pa."

Hank glanced at Ewan and back at Rhett. "If you say so."

Ewan glared at Rhett while he hastened the process of letting the horses have turns at the water and giving water to the various men who were there. "If it's all the same to you, I think I'll stay here," he said to the other rangers. They had no problem with it and went on to town.

* * *

He asked his wife to help prepare his bath and arrange his clothes so that he could talk to her in the privacy of their room. "You used to be married to that?" he asked. "Did he belong to that gang? Do you have any idea what they used to do? Hank Thomas was the last of a very bad lot."

"He wasn't like that in Atlanta. He was a gentleman."

"He's no more a gentleman than I am, but at least I have morals."

Kate was going to respond much as she once had to Dolly Merriweather, but realized Ewan was right. "That might have to do with why I'm not married to him anymore. He's got a lot of money, and he knows how to use it. He got off killing a man by bribing someone in Washington. Honestly, I've never realized quite that side of him before. I had no idea."

She handed him a damp towel to wash off the dust and grime of his time on the trail. He handed it back and she handed him a new, warmer towel to hold over his face in preparation for a shave. After a few minutes he removed the towel to see her again. She stood in front of him, shaving mug in one hand, brush in the other, a question on her face.

"You'll have to do it, Katie-darlin'. I'm too tired to trust with anything sharp." He pulled her down on his lap as she started to lather his face.

"I don't want him here," Ewan said as she was wiping the last off the soap off with a cool towel. "He's a criminal, and what's he going to do to the boys?"

"I watched him become the most upright citizen you ever saw, all for Bonnie's sake. He spent months at it. He won't hurt his sons' chances in society. He hasn't said anything to me, but I'm sure he'll want them to get into the best schools and have a chance with whichever debutantes they want."

Ewan paused in pulling his shirt off to look at her. "Do you _want_ him here?"

She closed her eyes and tried to figure out what she was thinking. "I want him not to ruin my life. Whether that means letting him visit and upset things for a week or two a year… or you running him down the lane at gunpoint, I don't care." She ran her hands on his bare chest almost obsessively, coming to rest where she could feel his heartbeat.

He pulled away. "Don't," he said. "I don't like the idea that you're trying to distract me."

"It's not a distraction!" she said with a raised voice. "Every time you go with them, I'm convinced that you're never coming back or that if you do it will be…"

"Aw, honey," he chuckled. "I've been doing it for years. I know how to take care of myself." He pulled her close.

" _I_ haven't been doing it for as many years," she answered from where his half-off shirt was mushed between them, "and it scares me to death every time."

* * *

Dinner was quiet, but Kate was radiant with happiness. Her family was around the table, safe. Rhett was keeping quiet for once. Ewan smiled at her, and she knew that she'd be staying in his room that night.

When the children were being settled into their various beds and Kate was giving Joesph his last feeding, the two men sat out on the porch. Rhett handed Ewan a cigar.

"The skies are beautiful out here," he observed.

"I grew up hearing the stars are more beautiful here than anywhere else," said Ewan. "The first time I crossed the Sabine River to go to New Orleans for school, I knew it was true."

"You were at Tulane for five years?"

Ewan nodded. "Arts degree and then Law."

"It took me a while to figure out what you did during the war and in the years after. I have a couple of friends who were high up in the Confederate Army who helped me out." Rhett took a long drag. "You were a spy, and then you worked for an investigating agency until the Rangers reformed, according to my sources." He tapped the ash off his cigar. "You have quite a few 'friends' all over the place. How thick is the file you have on me?"

"I imagine the one you've got on me is getting fatter by the day, Captain Butler, but I do have five years' head start."

Rhett nodded.

"I've known this whole time about the big house you own in Charleston, bought right before your marriage but never lived in by you. Did you buy that house for my wife?"

"I bought it for _Scarlett_ , before she ever had a chance to meet you. I had hoped… Well, it doesn't matter now. She'll never live there. I should sell it. The market is improving."

"I also know about the house you just bought in Galveston."

"She'll likely never cross the threshold of that one either, but it's there if she wants it," Rhett looked at McLure with challenge in his eyes, "or needs it."

"You didn't use any of your regular bank accounts to buy either house. I've got information about three hidden accounts you have, but I suspect there are at least two others."

"As long as Caroline never finds it, I'm happy. I'll have to leave her something, and Wade and Ella will be looked after, but I want most of my estate to go to those boys."

"There's always a clever way to set up a trust," said Ewan.

"I'd need a good trustee, and then there's maintenance..." Rhett looked at him. "Why aren't you practicing law? Your professors all assumed you'd be a judge by now."

"I can do it well enough, and from time to time I help out a friend, but I just don't like it. Why on earth would anyone sit in an office day after day when this exists?" He waved his arm to indicate his home and the gorgeous Texas night.

"That's a fair point."

"I am curious about one thing, Butler. Why are your men still looking for Katie?"

"I told them to stop the afternoon I got her telegram last year."

"Last week they made inquiries at the hotel where she stayed in New Orleans for the second time in two years."

"Those wouldn't have been my men," said Rhett. "They were tracking a lead in Idaho Territory when I told them to stop."

Ewan smiled. He'd created that lead himself. "So then who's looking for my wife?"

Rhett went cold. "I suspect my father-in-law is looking for my ex-wife. I wonder how long he's been looking and why."

"Do you suppose they would want to harm Kate?"

"I told Caroline that Scarlett O'Hara is no more. I watched her face as she immediately assumed that Scarlett's dead and started mentally dancing on her grave. She's asked a lot of questions about my money since then."

"Do they know about the boys?"

"I probably shouldn't have, but I put their pictures up in my bedroom back home. She's been asking about them, probably thinks if she can get the boys she'll get my money."

The boys would become a major source of contention between them eventually. "What are your intentions for Gerald and Langston?"

"I think it's going to come out sooner or later. People will ask more and more questions. Scarlett and I don't really look enough alike for folks to accept that we're kin forever. They'll have to know when it's time for them to take over their inheritances."

Ewan's heart sank. "They're my boys," he said. "You might be able to claim them, but it would take years in court and ruin their lives in the meanwhile. I will help Katie do anything to protect them. Meanwhile, I don't expect them to be innocents, but I would prefer to protect their innocence as long as possible."

"Anyone who looks at them will know they're my sons."

"Anyone who looks at them will know you were there when she got pregnant, Butler. I was there when she delivered them, and I've been with her every day since."

"Not every day, McLure. You weren't here this week, when she's been having nightmares."

"I don't see that it's your business, although it is my business that you've been staying in my house for the last few days."

"We've been perfectly circumspect. You do have servants in and out regularly. Do you know what she dreams of when you're gone?"

McLure was silent.

"She imagines all the ways that she could find out you've been killed. She lives your death over and over again, and she gets more tired and worn out every day you're gone."

"I'm not dead."

"And for a year and a half she was safe and well fed and still dreamed that she and her children were starving to death while sleeping right next to me." Rhett leaned forward. "You're the cure to her nightmares. If she doesn't have nightmares when you share a bedroom, you have to be there with her… every night."

Ewan stood up. "It takes a certain amount of courage to make that sort of accusation after everything you put her through. Didn't you leave her every time you exchanged cross words with each other?"

Rhett was standing, too. "You have no idea what she was like ten years ago."

Ewan nodded and said mockingly, "Oh, yes. Scarlett used to such be a terrible person in your opinion, and you were the Pygmalion who shaped your personal Galatea out of the raw material you found in the wilds of Georgia." Ewan tamped out his cigar and spoke in a more even tone. "When they taught you manners in Charleston, did they ever teach you to be kind to your own wife?" He opened the door. "I'm going upstairs now to spend the night with _my_ wife."

* * *

 _A/N: The title for this chapter comes from a piano solo written by Claude Debussy, which was supposedly inspired by a poem written by Paul-Marie Verlaine_

 _Thanks to all the readers and reviewers including **samandfreddie, gabyhyatt, Phantom710, Truckee Gal, COCO B, kanga85, Aethelfraed, Conlyn70, Melody-Rose-20, gumper, I Dream of Spring, mega700201, Jguest,** **Asline Nicole,** and **Guest 1 & 2.**_


	14. Another Day in the Sun

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Caroline stamped her foot in frustration as her father admired the portrait of the O'Hara woman in Rhett's bedroom. "She's the enemy, Father! How can you look at her like that?"

"She's a lovely woman, Caroline. I'd have to be dead not to acknowledge that. If I had known that Rhett's wife looked like that, I might have made a different offer."

Caroline's mouth dropped open as she considered his implication. "Father! The important thing is this photograph on the mantlepiece. Anyhow, Rhett said she's dead."

"Dead?"

"His actual words were, 'Scarlett O'Hara is no more.'"

"What a shame." He turned his attention to the photograph in question. "Those are fine-looking boys."

"Look closer. They're obviously Rhett's sons."

Charles suddenly tumbled to what she was saying. "Did he say how old they are?"

She burst into tears. "The whore was a month or two pregnant when we got married. He must have given me my ring just a week or two after he'd—been—with her."

"Now, Sugar, I warned you…"

"He's supposed to love _me!_ We're perfect for each other."

"He's his own person, Caro. I brought him to the altar, but it was up to you to make him love you."

"But he absolutely refuses! And now people are saying such things…"

"I'm afraid I've done all I can. You know I have no other means to force him to do anything."

"Those should be my sons."

"If he'd fallen in love with you and life had followed the normal path, they might have been. Obviously, he still loved his wife right up to the moment of the divorce."

"She's not his wife," she muttered, "but Daddy, I want those boys, if he won't give me any of my own."

"I don't know how we're supposed to do that, Sugar."

"There must be a way."

"I'd have to talk to my lawyer, but it's not as though we even know where they are."

"Why not?" Did she really stamp her foot? "You have men looking, don't you?"

"The world is a very big place, and you say even he had a hard time finding them." Charles put his arm around his daughter. "He's been hard to track, as though he's used to hiding his movements. My men were able to trace him to New Orleans easily enough, but from there the path grows dry. His friend who helped him sail there is still in Louisiana, but Rhett and his boat are not."

"What about those papers he had in his desk that said she was someplace in the northwest?"

"I have a man out there, but it's probably a false lead." He stared hard at the picture and noticed something. "Caro, do you have a magnifying glass?"

She went downstairs to get one and brought it. Charles put it over the background to the right of the boys. Over one of their shoulders was what looked like a map. Across it in big letters they could make out "H-O-U-S-T" to the edge of the photograph.

Charles' quickly telegraphed and wrote his men to look in Texas, starting in Houston and working out from there. After a month, the Holy Grail came to them in the first of several telegraphs: DIXON COUNTY TEXAS, TARA PLANTATION BOUGHT BY KATIE SCARLETT O'HARA MARCH 1875, CURRENTLY OWNED BY KATIE SCARLETT McLURE.

* * *

"Why are you so skittish?"

Rhett attempted to put his arm around Scarlett, and she stepped further into the flowers, away from him. Again.

"You know that's inappropriate, Captain Butler."

"You weren't always this way."

"I was _married_ to you!"

"Just last year you let me put my arm around you."

"Did I? It was horribly wrong of me, a terrible lapse of judgement. I'm sorry."

"Wrong was when you cheated your customers at the store or tried to sell bad lumber, Scarlett. This isn't wrong." He stepped closer and put his arm around her. She immediately tensed up. "I think you like it."

"You can't take liberties just because…"

He let go of her and then turned her around to face him. "Liberties? You think this is taking liberties?"

"Isn't it?"

He shook his head. "You're still a child, aren't you? Standing in Pittypat Hamilton's parlor with a Paris bonnet on your head worth far too much money and teasing me to kiss you. What do I get for the half million dollars in our divorce settlement? What do you think it's worth?"

She went completely white and took two definite steps back from him. "How can you make such a disgusting—"

"Because that's how we run our affairs, Scarlett, you and I." He nodded toward her house. "You may have him convinced that you're the sweetest belle of the South, but I know you. You're as rotten at your core as I am. Because of that, everything between us is cash on the barrelhead."

She looked up at him in dismay. "I don't—That's not—"

Rhett stepped back up to her and bent her over his arm. Her eyes, with their green depths and gold glints, tempted him, and he was not a man to resist temptation.

As always, she was lost in his kiss. Her knees started to shake and she forgot everything except him until suddenly she couldn't anymore. She broke away, gasping for air and trying to control her stomach. "I can't."

"Your body was just telling me something else."

She turned away from him and bent slightly at her middle, gulping air and willing her body to obey her. She refused to lose her breakfast over this. "I won't."

He looked at her and saw her obvious distress and how pale she'd gone. "You're—you're not with child, are you?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Just—dizzy, and… you're such a cad."

"For which you love me." She let him put his arm around her to guide her to the blanket they had in the shade. "I know you, Scarlett. I know us. Let me take you away from everything. Name a country. We could be on my boat in Galveston tonight and sail with the tide to any place you want."

"I can't leave my children, Rhett. You might be right about me. Scarlett O'Hara is a cheat of a businesswoman and a terrible wife, friend, and mother, but I never left my people stranded, and you offered before."

"I did, and I admired you for staying."

"I know I was all of those terrible things just as you say, but you know I always wanted to be a great lady like my mother. Scarlett O'Hara is not a very nice person, but Katie McLure is trying so hard…"

"I want you to be free to be yourself."

"But I tried that, Rhett, and I did and acted exactly as I wished, but the more I did, the more mean and nasty even you became to me. What good did it do me to be like that? I lost everything of any real value in Atlanta, and you never liked me anyway."

"Except for a half million dollars. You got very rich out of the deal after all."

She hid her face from him, stung that he would bring it up. "The money was a poor substitute, and I suspect you've always known it would be." She sighed. "It would be very difficult, and I would have to back off on many of my commitments to the family I still have back east, but if it means so much to you, I'll transfer it back."

It was his turn to be stung. He knew better than to deal in something so absolute when he didn't really mean it absolutely. She jumped to the practical considerations before she thought of anything else. "I apologize, Scarlett. You probably earned every cent of that money."

"I don't want you to regret the expense of having known me. I'd rather you have the money back. Is there a percentage of interest I should pay with it?"

"Just forget I mentioned it." It came out harshly, much more harshly than it should have. He looked at her, at the curve of her neck turned away from him. He'd spent more than one night tracing that curve with his lips, but he'd given away the right. Somehow they had to find a footing, and it was on him to discover or create that footing if he was going to have access to his sons. Even so, he couldn't give in to her whims, and he still resented being taken to task by a man who didn't really know this woman.

"So you've sold out to respectability in order to get a husband who isn't nasty?"

She shrugged. "There were times when I would have done a lot to make you less nasty to me. I could never figure it out, and then I couldn't let you get the upper hand so I acted nasty to you. But I always wanted to be a great lady like Mother. It's not a whole lot harder, and people do seem to like it." She looked up. "Except for you, I suppose."

"It's all a lie, isn't it? This isn't you."

She picked a bluebonnet from alongside the blanket and started peeling the leaves away from the stem. "I'll never really like it, the way Melly did. I don't know if my mother did. I've started to feel as though she was never entirely there. She did those things more because they were right than because she loved the people she did them for. If she can do it, I guess I can, too."

"Can you possibly be happy like that?"

"Maybe not all the time, but Ewan and I…" She took a deep breath and let it out expressively. "Yes, Rhett, I'm happy." She smiled at him. "When the cotton is in bloom, when the first bluebonnets bloom, when the colts start to find their feet, I love it here."

"You could have all that with me instead."

Scarlett blushed. "And when Ewan takes my hand at night and we walk upstairs—well—it wouldn't be ladylike to say. Rhett, this is the best my life has ever been."

He couldn't argue with the look on her face.

* * *

Caroline looked at the packet that Daddy's men had sent, a month after they found the O'Hara woman's farm. There was a picture from _The Daily News_ , the paper in Galveston, Texas. "Mister and Mrs. Ewan McLure, Mister Rhett Butler," said the caption. Caro traced Rhett's face. He looked years younger with a genuine smile on his face, even with a mask. He was reaching toward a woman who was clearly the same one as the portrait upstairs. How could Rhett say she was no more if this picture existed from just two months ago? The other man was quite attractive, too. Some women got everything.

Caroline burned at the information that Rhett went to balls with the other woman. The only event she could ever get him to was the St. Cecelia, damn him. The photographer had caught them just as Rhett was about to lead her onto the dance floor. It was there in the way Rhett was reaching around her waist and taking her hand. How often had they danced together? With their history it must be many more times than he ever danced with Caroline, damn him again.

She looked through her other information from Daddy's men. The O'Hara woman was young, only thirty-six years old, and she had her two children from before her marriage to Rhett, her twin sons with Rhett, and now two with her current husband. She owned her own farm and her husband owned a horse ranch. They lived in a small town along a railroad line south of Houston. She thought of her own forty years and wondered if she should have done anything like that. Hadn't Rhett bragged that his other wife had made a go of her farm and businesses from being penniless? Daddy had kept Caroline from having to worry about such things, so she was able to stay a lady.

"Rhett wants to be with her so much, Daddy. How can we get him to stay home more?"

Charles was more interested in getting control of some of Rhett's money. His situation had gotten tight since his extortion practices had come to light. Caroline might be on the right track to try to get control of the boys. Whoever had the boys could gain a corresponding amount of money to manage as well.

Charles would have his lawyers look into custody of those twins. If Caroline and Rhett had custody here in Charleston, then perhaps some of the money could come back to Charleston. From what little he knew about the custody of children, Charles knew it would be tricky, but it might be doable.

"We'll have to talk to the lawyers," Charles finally answered his daughter. "The law favors the husband over the mother, but he divorced her as she got pregnant, so he was not the father of record when they were born. She ran away and hid those boys from him, so maybe there's a chance."

"She can't win. She's basically a whore. Four husbands!"

"Quite a pretty one, though," observed Charles, looking at the newspaper clipping.

"Daddy, she's younger than I am!"

"All right, Sugar. I'm just saying she's pretty. But for the record, I'm not a whole lot older than Rhett, and she was married to him."

* * *

In due time, the bluebonnets faded, and Rhett went to wherever it was he went. Kate heaved a big sigh of relief as she saw him off. Ewan had taken the twins out somewhere on the farm, and she had the morning to look after herself and the two younger boys. Aiden was starting to be a handful and Joseph was trying a little too hard to walk and climb. First things first, she went to the office to look over her ledgers.

A contract was on her desk. She opened it and discovered the mortgage on the farm, noted "Paid in Full." She paged through the document until she got to the signature page and behind that was a note.

 _"_ _My Dear Scarlett,_

 _I know the wolf is not at your door at this time, but it would be a shame to lose your farm over the bluebonnets, when they mean so much to those who loved Bonnie. Please accept this as a gift and forgive my part in the quarrel we had last week._

 _Affectionately, Rhett_

What was she to do with this? She couldn't hide it from Ewan, but it would make him angry. He was already angry about Rhett's visit. This sort of gift from Rhett, on top of the money she had invested from the divorce settlement, never sat well with him. Something about Rhett infuriated him.

Something about Rhett infuriated Kate, for that matter. He was a little too convinced that she was the one who had done everything wrong during their marriage and that her current life was just some misunderstanding that could be ignored. If she thought about it, he treated much of what she accomplished as just toys she kept. Tara in Georgia, Kennedy's store, the mills… as far as Rhett was concerned, she was some sort of child playing make believe. There was no reason for her to have any pride in it, because it could never matter compared to all that he had done.

"Is something the matter?"

Kate looked at the clock. Was it dinner time already? "I'm sorry, I lost track."

Ewan smiled encouragingly. "Do you miss him so much?"

She shook her head. "No, but he tries to leave himself behind." She indicated the file on her desk.

Ewan picked it up, paged through it, and whistled. "What does he expect in exchange for this?"

"I don't know."

"Is he in the habit of giving you priceless gifts?"

She looked out the window. "It started with a Paris bonnet."

"A hat?"

"He ran it in through the blockade. He told me it was worth two thousand dollars because of how he got it to Atlanta."

 _I always get something in exchange._

A chill ran down her back. "Do you think I should refuse it, as a gift?"

"He references your daughter here. Is it possible that it simply has to do with her?"

"I told you long ago that the flowers are the color her eyes were. It's why I love the patch, and he loves it for the same reason. I told him last year that the patch is the only reason we had a mortgage on the land. He must have tracked down the accounts in the last year. He did agree that it was worth buying this property because of that field and that I cannot ever plant on it."

"Is he trying to buy you?"

"He never had to buy me. He had me for other reasons."

 _Money always helps, you know._ A new chill ran down her back. Was she lying now by forgetting that Rhett's money had been discussed during his proposal?

"Why did you ever marry him?"

She was in some sort of mental state where she simply said the answer to his questions. "He kissed me until marrying him was the only thing that made sense."

"Like he did the other day?"

"How did you—"

"It was on your face. I could tell he kissed you, and that it went no farther."

"It made me… I almost lost my breakfast. I didn't want his kisses. It was nothing like before, or maybe it was exactly the same but I didn't know any better. They make me feel like I'm lost, and I get dizzy."

"And yet it made you wonder."

"Is that why you haven't touched me since the night you got home?"

"You're not yourself when he's here."

"He claims I'm not myself with you. He says you have no idea how terrible of a person I really am and that I'm lying to you."

"You're allowed to have an opinion of your own."

"I don't want the person I am now to be a lie. I want to be Katie McLure. I want to be Mrs. Ewan McLure. I like your kisses better. You make me feel warm and safe."

"Safe?" That was hardly what one wanted to hear from a bedroom partner.

She was blushing dark pink. "Well, yes. Safe enough to let you keep kissing me and… everything. I don't worry about being undressed in front of you."

* * *

 _She was sick to her stomach every minute of the day, now. The child she'd only just realized she was carrying was making itself felt. She could barely have a cup of tea in the morning with a biscuit and she was still ill later in the day when she returned from the store. Hopefully there was a cup of tea to be had soon._

 _Listlessly she sorted through the mail. There was a big envelope from the Fulton County Courthouse. She could guess what that was. She opened the one from the Diocese of Savannah. There was a Declaration of Nullity. Paging through, she saw something about an improper marriage without at priest. Fair enough._

 _There was a fat letter from Aunt Pauline. She opened that one next and sat on the stairs. "…Last week we attended the wedding of Rhett Butler to Caroline Bell, a local girl. We never realized that he had finalized his situation with you, dear. The bride was pretty for her age and seems very happy. The groom didn't look pleased in the least…"_

 _Scarlett looked up. There must have been a reason to rush that wedding. Her hand went to her middle. Did it happen before he'd come to her to sign the paperwork, or afterward? Did it matter? Her mind whirred at a tremendous pace as she considered what she should do next. She never realized that her face was covered in tears._

"Katie, it's all right, I have you."

She woke up in Ewan's arms and clung to him.

"What were you dreaming, dear?"

"The day I got all the paperwork. It all came together with a note from my aunt about his wedding. I was so alone."

"I've got you."

He did, and as much as he might find it boring, it was the best thing in the world to feel safe in his arms, so safe that it was the most natural thing in the world to be in a bed with him.

"Love me," she murmured.

"You know I do, Katie." He hugged her tighter.

She shifted in his arms so that one of his hands was on her breast while she tipped her lips up to kiss along his jaw. "Love me," she said a little more forcefully.

He understood what she meant. "Darlin'," he whispered as he shifted his lips down to hers.

* * *

 _A/N: This chapter title was going to come from Sheryl Crow, but instead comes from the movie musical La La Land._

 _I figured out why I didn't get a single email notification for chapter twelve. Turns out that Yahoo, in its wisdom, moved all my FFN notifications to spam. Some are missing entirely, so I went through the review log to respond to the logged in reviewers and if I missed anyone, I'm really sorry, because you're all awesome. This is my story, and it's got a specific trajectory, but I do appreciate hearing all the opinions._

 _So thanks to all the reviewers and readers, including, **kanga85, Truckee Gal, Melody-Rose-20, Aethelfraed, breakfastattiffanygs, Conlyn70, COCO B, TheFauxGinge, mega700201, heresvivi, gabyhyatt, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6, Katherine, Another Guest, lescarlett, ****Aunt Pitty,** and **Gwtwlover2**._


	15. A String of Pearls

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _For the record, there's no actual contract between Rhett and Charles Bell. It's more of a standoff._

The summer and fall of 1881 passed uneventfully in both South Carolina and Texas. Wade Hamilton finished his first year at Harvard with a certain amount of honors. He spent two weeks in Texas with his mother before working for the summer with his uncle Henry.

Ella whiled away her time at the school in Houston, learning deportment but also spending more time on her mathematics and literature. As Mother put it, Ella might need to actually talk to a young man before he wanted to marry her, and some day she might also need to balance a ledger. Ella and her classmates had reached an age where they were attending carefully chaperoned events with young men, and she realized the value of the former skill if not the latter.

Gerald and Langston started to learn their letters and numbers with Kate in the mornings before dinner, and then worked with the men in the fields or in the stables in the afternoons. It would be years before they would be allowed to directly do anything with the colts and younger horses being prepared for sale, but they were not too young to start learning the principles involved.

Aiden and Joseph were too young for chores yet, so they spent most of the morning with Olivia and Ma while she worked with the twins and then with Olivia during the afternoon. Aiden was asked to help his older brothers when they helped Mahala in the kitchen and the kitchen garden, looking ahead to the time when they would go on to bigger things and he would take over in the garden. Both little ones still took a nap after dinner.

So the seasons passed in Dixon County while Rhett Butler furnished two houses. One was in Galveston, Texas, three blocks off Strand. The other was across the back lots from his parents' house on the Charleston Battery. Both houses fit the local architecture perfectly, but the contents of the houses were quite different. Oddly enough, there was something in storage in Atlanta for each. He chuckled to himself as he went back through Wade's warehouse, looking for particular items.

Rhett was almost jaunty at the St. Cecelia Ball of 1882. He danced his obligatory reel and waltz with his wife and then partnered with his mother and sister.

"You seem pleased with yourself," observed Elizabeth Butler. "What are you scheming?"

"Who says I'm scheming anything?" he asked.

"You're extremely pleased with yourself," she observed. "Last year you seemed so sad. You said you were looking for Scarlett here."

"Obviously she wouldn't be here, but maybe in a couple of years she could be."

"How will you ever manage that?"

"I have some ideas," he said with a smile.

"Does that mean I'll get to see my grandsons?"

"I don't want them in Charleston, but I might get them as close as Atlanta or even Savannah."

"I would travel to Savannah."

He smiled again. "Let me continue to plan."

On the way to their house, Caroline turned to Rhett. "Let me guess. You're going back to _her_ again."

"You realize your envy toward her is misplaced. Her husband keeps us a respectable distance from each other."

"You're always saying that she's more your wife even now than I will ever be."

"Yes, that is true," Rhett reflected.

Caroline pouted, but had to be careful not to let him see it. "Are you sailing this time?"

"Let me make it easy on your father's men, since I'm paying for some of them. I will be going by rail."

Rhett traveled by train to Atlanta, where he looked over his selections again. Scarlett's choices were entirely wrong for a house in Atlanta, and she'd gone to considerable trouble to get those pieces. On the other hand, some of the pieces were entirely appropriate for Galveston, where a somewhat flashier style of living was embraced. The furniture was sent, by circuitous routes.

Rhett went to the bank, where Scarlett had left a safe deposit box in both their names. He'd gone after coming back from visiting Scarlett in Texas the first time, shocked at the contents. In an afternoon, now, he removed one slim case from the safe deposit box while he filled a small velvet box. The next morning he traveled straight to New Orleans.

From New Orleans he took a ship to Galveston, where he walked through his furnished house and waited for the Carnival season. He selected items of his own refined taste for most of the house except for one room that was entirely like the Atlanta house had been. Some of Scarlett's other furniture was sprinkled throughout the house as accent pieces.

While not at home, Captain Butler renewed the acquaintances he'd made the previous year. He invested heavily in one of the local banks as well as the port and ship channel to Houston. He took his sailboat all over Galveston Bay and all around Galveston Island. He considered the various ports and inlets of the coast, not because he needed to know them, but perhaps as a remnant of his blockading days. It was all very interesting, considering how and where he would go if the occasion required it.

* * *

Katie McLure considered the books for 1881 in early 1882. It hadn't been quite so good a year, although they still did quite well for themselves. They wouldn't be able to add quite the acreage to the cotton crop as before, but perhaps the boys would like to expand the kitchen garden. Aiden was almost big enough to be properly helpful this year, while Jerry and Bud were growing to be quite sturdy and enterprising.

Nevertheless, Ewan had given her tickets for the ball in Galveston again. "We didn't do quite as well this year," Kate said.

"We still did well enough," he replied. "We can afford to treat ourselves and the children."

"I don't think I'll have a dress made this time, though," she said.

"You were beautiful enough in last year's dress that I wouldn't mind seeing it again."

"I have plenty of dresses, actually," she replied. "I can bring one or two and you can help me decide there."

"Does that involve helping you put them on and taking them off?" he asked with a mischievous smile.

Kate rolled her eyes but smiled. "As long as the taking off part doesn't happen in the ballroom," she said.

They arrived at the Tremont House, where they stayed the previous year. The clerk at the counter handed them a letter when they arrived. "It's Rhett's handwriting," said Kate, handing the envelope to her husband.

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. McLure," it read, "it would give me great pleasure to host you and your daughter, Ella, for supper this evening at my home." It gave the address of the house and Rhett's signature.

"What do you think?" Kate asked.

"You know him better than I do."

"In principle, he's been our guest quite a bit and owes us."

Ewan shrugged. "I'm not sure I care about such matters of obligation."

"It would matter in Charleston," said Kate, thinking of what her own mother would say and from that knowing what Mrs. Elizabeth Butler would say.

Ewan shrugged, knowing that there wasn't really a question. "I suppose we should rest and prepare for this evening, then."

* * *

Rhett greeted them just inside his front door. "Welcome, Mr. McLure, Mrs. McLure." He kissed Kate's cheek. It was something that ought not be done, but there was no one to see or start rumors. Rhett moved on to kiss Ella's cheek as well.

"It's so good to see you, Uncle Rhett!" the girl gushed. "This is a gorgeous house!"

Rhett looked a little pained. Scarlett's lips twisted just a bit, for the house had turrets and more scrollwork than she recalled Rhett liking. It was typical of the city since the war ended, however, and suited the neighborhood, unlike the monstrosity she had built on Peachtree Street in Atlanta.

"Shall we look through it?" he asked. "There's just about time before our supper will be ready."

He showed them through the first floor, containing the main hallway, two parlors, the dining room, and a couple of smaller rooms behind the stairs, one of which he was using as a study. Kate recognized quite a few pieces of the furniture that Rhett previously claimed to hate. She didn't let on that she'd noticed, yet her eyes narrowed as she followed her ex-husband around.

"Mother, isn't that Uncle Rhett's desk from the office in Atlanta?" whispered Ella to her mother.

Rhett overheard her. "It is, indeed, Miss Ella," he answered. "I brought several things that were in Atlanta."

"Why didn't you just leave them there?" she asked.

Her mother shook her head and sighed.

"That house was sold, you know. Your mother put everything in storage for me."

"I thought…"

"What did you think, dear?" Rhett asked softly.

"I was hoping we could all go back to live in our house in Atlanta and have it be like it was, with all our friends there, new and old."

The adults all looked at each other. Rhett swallowed and then smiled with his old mischief. "I think we might have a better deal now, with all your little brothers and houses in so many places. Things can't always stay the same. Look at Wade. He's gone more than he's home, now."

"Even Beau has moved, you know," said her mother gently. "He and Uncle Ashley are in Charlotte, now. That's most of a day from Atlanta by train."

Ella nodded. "You're right, Uncle Rhett, I guess."

He looked at Scarlett and basked in the gratitude on her face. "I should thank you," she said as they went up the grand stair case, "for paying off the mortgage. You didn't have to do that."

"You found my note, didn't you? I had my reasons."

"I did, and it made sense, but it wasn't your responsibility."

"There are too many things I should have taken responsibility for and ignored, Scarlett. I'll regret some decisions for the rest of my life. It was little enough to me and I know Bonnie's field is safe." His tone of voice made it clear that he didn't want to discuss it.

"Thank you all the same," she replied. "You know what it meant to me."

"Any sort of Tara is dear to you, as dear as a blood relative, I think," he said sincerely.

Upstairs were several guest bedrooms. Now that she knew the Atlanta furniture was to be found in this house, Ella was on a scavenger hunt of sorts. She recognized a dresser in one room and chairs or settees in others. When they got to one of the two big rooms in the front of the house, Ella gasped. "Mother, isn't this all of the furniture from your bedroom in Atlanta?"

Ewan watched his wife turn beet-red as she reluctantly nodded. "Uncle Rhett always said it was ghastly, so I decided not to bother with it when we moved... west…" She looked up and caught the eye of both husbands and broke off what she was saying, suddenly very interested in one of the drawers of the vanity. She refused to look at the bed.

A bell rang in the downstairs hallway; supper was ready. The group made their way downstairs, and they went into the dining room. Rhett was always a pleasant if somewhat extravagant host. He served a fine meal and good wine, watering it down quite a bit for Ella. Kate was fairly certain that a point was coming to all of this, and he finally got to business over dessert.

"I wanted to talk to you, Scarlett, about your plans for Ella Lorena, here."

"Does it matter to you?"

"You know I was her guardian. I never really felt a severing of that tie."

"The way you divorced me didn't sever everything enough?" she asked with a cold green fire in her eyes.

Rhett smiled ruefully. "As we all now know, we were less severed than ever after that night."

She went white and fell against the back of her chair as though she'd been struck. "You would throw _that_ in my face?"

He could see that this wasn't going the way he wanted it to go. He lit a cigar and leaned back in his own chair. "I had some thoughts, and I wanted to run them by you. I understand that she'll be presented next winter?"

Now that the adult conversation was circling around to something that interested her, Ella smiled brightly. "Oh, yes, Uncle Rhett! Mother is already letting me look through different magazines to see what I want for my gowns!"

"But from what I gather, she'd also like to go back east."

The McLures looked at each other and Scarlett nodded reluctantly. "She has no idea what it's really like any more, but in her mind, it's home."

"I think I can get her presented at the Saint Cecelia Ball the year after. She can have a season back east."

Ella went into raptures while her mother frowned. "You never cared about that sort of thing."

"You may recall that Bonnie changed my mind about many things. I'd like to do this for Ella, remembering what I would have done for Bonnie, Scarlett."

Ewan was following his though process. "You intend to do the same for Jerry and Bud?"

Rhett took the cigar out of his mouth and adjusted his water glass with the same hand. "It's a different process for young men, but yes. If I can make this work for Ella, their path will be smooth."

Ewan looked at the girl, who hadn't heard anything beyond the promise of a second debutante season on the East Coast. Ella didn't realize that she was going to be a seventeen-year-old test subject in an experiment for her brothers. He looked at his wife, who cast a very suspicious eye on her ex-husband.

"Isn't that risky? Won't everyone figure out where we live?" she asked.

Ewan and Rhett looked at each other, each shrugging and indicating that the other should speak. Ewan finally cleared his throat and put his hand over his wife's. "We think the investigators for Charles Bell will know within another year or two anyway. They've circled back through New Orleans enough times that someone will help them find Houston soon."

Scarlett looked between the men. "If anyone harms a single one of my children…"

Ewan squeezed her hand. "We'll be fine, darlin'."

* * *

Before they left that evening, Rhett summoned Scarlett back to his study. He opened his safe and pulled out a small jewelry box. "I thought you should have these, for the sentiment. Some of them came from your family or your first two husbands."

She opened it and saw the ear bobs she took from the Yankee deserter, a bracelet Frank had given her, and Charles Hamilton's watch as well as several small pieces Rhett had given her over the years. She couldn't bear to look at them when she left Atlanta, but she wouldn't mind being reunited with them again.

"I—I guess you're right. Thank you, Rhett."

"You're most welcome. Our divorce wasn't ever pleasant, but it never should have separated you from your pretty things."

She reached into her reticule for a handkerchief to dab at her eyes as he reached back into his safe. "It would please me if you wear these to the ball tomorrow."

She opened the case to discover the diamond and emerald parure he had purchased her after their wedding to go with her engagement ring. She looked up at him, speechless.

"You are wearing green tomorrow, right?"

"I decided on that champagne colored gown with the green trim." It was one of the last she had let him choose for her.

"The necklace will be perfect, then." He should know as well as she did.

"I'll have to see what Ewan thinks…"

"Do that. You can return the set to me for safekeeping afterward. The boys should probably have the option of dividing all the real jewels when they're older."

"They're not yet seven!"

"And I met you when you weren't yet seventeen. Look where we are now."

She sighed. "All right, Rhett."

"Scarlett?"

She turned back to him. "Why did you put all the jewelry in the bank in Atlanta? You could have sold enough of it to buy your property yourself."

"Not then, Rhett. I couldn't face—I couldn't do it, and after—I couldn't go back east."

"I see," he said quietly.

* * *

Charleston, SC March 1882

Caroline Bell looked at the latest Galveston clippings. The O'Hara woman was standing between her own husband and Caroline's husband again. Caroline looked closer. The O'Hara woman was wearing several thousand dollars' worth of jewelry, if she wasn't mistaken. How would she get it? She looked at the picture of Rhett again. He was smiling down on the O'Hara woman with that look he never gave Caroline. Either Rhett had purchased the jewels when they were married or the woman had bought them with the money that should have been Caroline's. Either way, there was another pound of flesh that Caroline needed to extract.

"Daddy!"

* * *

 _A/N: A String of Pearls was done most notably by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. The Galveston Strand is essentially Avenue B, the shopping district and near the historical piers. It was the fashionable part of town before the 1900 and 1906 Hurricanes and has had a bit of resurgence since the last few decades of the 20th century._

 _The readers and reviewers are quite a lovely string of jewels, too, including **gabyhyatt, kanga85, Aethelfraed, Asline Nicole, heresvivi, Gwtwlover2, Phantom710, Truckee Gal, Melody-Rose-20, Mammy, breakfastattiffanygs, COCO B, Conlyn70, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 &7, samandfreddie, ****mega700201,** and **Florausten.**_

 _That said, please no personal comments in the reviews. I actually did delete one a while back. I hate to do that, but there it is._

 _Meanwhile, it's March Madness, and I'm dancing with the one who brought me, as I have pretty much done since the mid 1980s. It may mean less story writing, it may be more. We'll find out if Orange dances well this year or not._


	16. I Belong with You (Ho Hey)

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Ewan blinked when his wife was finished dressing. "It comes with a _crown_?" he asked with an irritated chuckle

"A tiara, actually," she said, "and it won't be the only one if you remember from last year." She smoothed her opera gloves with the confidence of a duchess… or a Galveston matron.

It was actually tasteful, less than an inch tall and slid elegantly into her hair where it glimmered and gave interest above her mask. It perfectly matched the earrings that dangled from her ears and the necklace that perfectly divided the space between her neck and neckline.

"It all looks beautiful on you," he observed, trying to keep any trace of resentment out of his voice.

Scarlett would have dazzled in just that champagne-colored silk, but the jewels enhanced her appearance all the more. Unfortunately, Ewan knew where it had all come from, and it wasn't from growing cotton. Fortunately, Ewan could appreciate that here was a gift horse that didn't need to be looked in the mouth. His predecessor had dressed Kate well, but Butler wasn't in any position to take advantage of that fact.

When the ball was over, Ewan brought his wife back up to their room, and as he had done last year, he pressed her against the door to kiss her possessively. Butler had been all that was charming. When he saw Ewan's wife, he'd smirked in a way that surely had fathers and husbands calling him out in his younger days. It was clear that he felt he'd won something. Ewan could barely get her through the door before wanting to prove to himself that Katie Scarlett McLure was his own wife.

It was far easier than it should have been to push the dress down from her shoulders, leaving her breasts all-too exposed. It was just a passing thought as Ewan started caressing her, first with his hands and then with his mouth.

"Gently," she whispered as his mouth got a little too greedy. "I'm still tightly laced and… _gently, please!_ "

He unfastened the hooks and let the dress fall, but the crinoline and hoops held it up. She slid her hands between them to unfasten her underskirts. He put his hands around her waist and lifted her out of the dress. Stepping over to the bed, he laid her on it face down and started working at the laces of her corset. After a few minutes, she was gasping with relief. She lifted herself up a little and unfastened the busk.

Ewan let Kate roll over. He gazed at her as he started removing his own clothes. One button on his jacket, three on his waistcoat. There were four studs on his shirt with buttons the rest of the way down. She reached up to remove his cufflinks, and the shirt was done. His shoes were already gone, as were hers, and his trousers soon followed.

She sat up and started pulling at his underclothes with the same ferocity that he had shown her gown, and conscious thought receded. Ewan took his wife with the added pleasure of knowing she took him, as well. After some amount of time, they lay together, breathing hard and staring into each other's eyes. Something had come upon them during several hours spent talking to their business contacts and fending off Rhett's sarcastic and suggestive comments. It was gone now, and they were alone again with each other.

Kate sat up and started removing her ear rings. Ewan reached over and ran his hand over her arm. She shrugged. "I can't sleep with all of this on. It will get caught in my hair. So good night, Scarlett."

Ewan felt cold. "Is that who you are when you wear all of that? Scarlett Butler?"

"When you're holding me, I'm Kate or whatever you choose to call me."

"I think there's only one of you."

"Are you sure?" The necklace was now gone, too, and she was pulling on the tiara, but stopped and started working at hair pins.

"I've lived with you for six years now, Katie-darlin', and whether you're soft or prickly, you're still the same woman in your heart."

She finally got enough pins out, and the tiara slid down onto her shoulder. "Do you think so?" Her first three husbands all had a particular picture in mind when they thought of her.

He stared at her pale skin glowing in the moonlight from the waist up and admired the curves of her raised arms as she removed more pins and the rest of her dark hair tumbled over her shoulders. "I've never seen anything like you, but you're always you."

Her head turned away, "I admit there's one name I like a great deal," she said.

"Oh?" He put his hands behind his head and continued to watch her.

The moonlight was darkened as she leaned over him with her cloud of hair around her. "Mrs. Ewan McLure."

"Can I be Mr. Katie McLure?"

She giggled like a girl as she kissed him. He reached out to pull her down, and something new came upon them, this time sweeter and gentler.

* * *

Two days after the ball, Rhett held a tea for Ella. He was aware that she was known to Houston society, and he had already met and selected a few ladies who he hoped would write letters on her behalf. In visiting and comparing the two cities, he decided that there was as much or more to be gained by getting some letters from Galveston as well. It was a more established and genteel city. A tea with the girl in question would hopefully win the matrons of this town over.

Ella, Ewan, and Kate were just about prepared to leave when a runner came up from the front desk of the hotel with a note for Ewan. He slipped the seal and looked at it.

"It's from the Galveston sheriff. The Rangers asked him to contact me. They need me in Baytown."

Kate's mouth gaped open. "That's the _other_ side of the Houston Ship Channel. It's outside your range!"

Ewan shrugged. "They need me."

" _I_ need you."

"Now, darlin', you know you can handle damn near anything."

She turned away, refusing to let him see her fears or worries. Worse than having him away was the thought that he'd be distracted by concerns at home. He needed all of his wits to concentrate on dealing with dangerous men. She nodded. "I see you've made up your mind to go, then. We'll be leaving tomorrow, so unless you come home by then, you'll find us at Tara." She turned back around with a smile fixed on her face.

He wasn't completely fooled, but he appreciated the effort. "That's my Katie."

He kissed her far more passionately than he usually did in front of the children and went back to the bedroom to change. Kate grasped Ella's hand and left. Rhett would be unmerciful if they were late.

"Where's Mr. O'Hara?" he asked with a smirk when they arrived.

"My father's been dead almost sixteen years now, Rhett. I still miss him, thank you for reminding me."

For once she got the pleasure of seeing that look wiped off his face. "Where's your—McLure?"

"Ewan had some business come up," she answered primly. "You'll have to manage the men without him. Mind you're polite."

"I'm always polite."

"Fiddle dee dee… I do recall that, Rhett. Today, however, if you aim to accomplish what you say, you should avoid telling them what terrible business deals and other scandals they're involved in while pretending to be polite. It will be less of a struggle that way."

"I believe I know as well as you what to bring up and what not to bring up today, Scarlett."

"And you'd best not call me that."

He bowed formally. "My sincere apologies, Mrs. McLure."

Kate's eyes narrowed. It was neither sincere nor apologetic. Yet, what was she to do? "You are a varmint, Captain Butler."

He picked up her hand as he came back up, kissing it. "And that's why you always liked me, my dear."

The tea passed pleasantly enough. The ladies sat in the two parlors and discussed various happenings in Galveston and Houston. A few scandals from New Orleans had been notorious enough to be discussed here as well. The men went to a back room where Rhett had a billiard table and a dry bar. The Captain and former Mrs. Butler worked as they once had so very well to further the future of Ella Lorena Kennedy.

Ella's Houston and Galveston season was never in doubt. She was considered one of the best students at her school in Houston despite her grades in academic subjects, and her mother was admired by the men of that city while the women whispered about her. The girl's own company manners and modest habits visible in demeanor and dress worked well at the tea. If the matrons of Galveston held any sway over Charleston, she was well on her way to a Charleston season, too.

"They'll want to interview her in person," said Rhett.

"Are you telling me I need to travel to Charleston?"

"Is Wade visiting before his summer vacation, again? You could have him take her."

"How would I get her back?"

"My mother would like to meet the boys."

"Rhett…"

"Perhaps you could meet in New Orleans?"

"I'll have to think about it."

* * *

Kate sent her daughter back to Houston on the early train the next morning and loaded two buggies to travel back to Tara. It was a full day's ride, but they'd traveled it several times in the last few years. At the start of the drive, Kate drove one buggy with the twins while Herman drove the other with Mahala, Aiden, and Joseph.

It only took an hour for the twins to get bored with the rarely changing scenery of the coastal plain. "Ma?" Langston spoke first.

"Yes?"

"Remember when we went sailing the other day, and then Jerry and me went to get ice cream with Uncle Rhett?"

"Yes, I remember."

"The man at the fountain said that we were regular chips off the old block. Uncle Rhett looked funny and said, 'Thank you,' quiet-like. Then Jerry asked him what chips off the old block meant and he said it meant that we looked like him."

Kate had to swallow hard. "And so you do. You knew that."

Jerry piped up. "Well later, we asked Pa what chip off the old block meant, and he said it's what people say when kids look like their pa."

"Yes, I suppose that's true," said Kate. She was glad that this team was so easy to hold. They were content to follow the other buggy and wouldn't take advantage of the sudden weakness she felt all through her body.

"Ma," said Jerry, "Bud and I have been talking, and we want to know how we can be chips of the old block if we don't look like our pa at all. Why do we look like Uncle Rhett?"

 _I can't do this_ , thought Scarlett.

 _I have to do this,_ answered Kate, _and I have to get it right_.

"Well," she said with a wavering voice, "you know how when Aiden and Joseph first came to us, you know where they were?"

"They were in your tummy," said Langston, matter-of-factly.

"You got awful fat, Ma," added Jerry.

Kate fought the irritation. "Well, you know when you boys first got in my tummy, I wasn't married to your pa."

"But you were always married to Pa!" said Jerry.

"Now you know that's not true. A long time ago, I was married to Wade's pa, and after that to Ella's pa. Both of those men died."

"Oh, yeah," said Bud, nodding.

Kate took a deep breath to calm herself. "Uncle Rhett was my husband when you started growing in my tummy."

"But then he wasn't your husband?"

"He made it so we weren't married anymore," Kate bit her lip to avoid tears and then rushed to add. "But that was a good thing, because then I came to Texas, and I met your pa, and he's been with you both since the minute you were born, and he's the best pa I could have ever found for two little boys."

"And Joey and Aiden."

Kate smiled in spite of the tear that slipped down her face. "Yes, dear, and the best pa for Joey and Aiden, too."

"Ma, why didn't Uncle Rhett want to be your husband anymore?"

She sighed. "There were many reasons, some I can't explain." She thought for a moment. "We told you about Bonnie Blue."

"The little girl with the bluebonnet eyes?"

"Yes, that was her. She was our very own little girl, Uncle Rhett's and mine, and we loved her so much. She was Uncle Rhett's whole world. When she died, we both felt so terrible about it. And then we both said some awful things. Some other people got involved and then it just happened. We didn't know about you two boys yet. It takes a while to realize when a baby is in a mother's tummy…" Another tear slipped out.

"Ma? Are you still sad about Bonnie?"

"I still miss her sometimes, but I had Wade and Ella to take care of, and then I got you boys, and then Aiden and Joe. We have a good family and I love you all dearly. I wouldn't change anything we have."

* * *

Rhett arrived late at night about a week and a half later. Scarlett, who was just locking up for the night, went out to help him with his horse. She then warmed up some leftover dinner for him.

"Where's McLure?" he asked.

"He's out with the Rangers again."

"Just how often does he do that?"

She shrugged. "Last year it was three times, the year before only once because of the baby."

Rhett reached for her hand. "Why does he still do that? I can see the circles under your eyes. He's been gone a while, hasn't he?" He looked at the clock. "For that matter, aren't you up a little late?

"Just eleven days." _Eleven days, fifteen hours, and… twenty-six minutes_ , according to the clock over the mantlepiece.

"He shouldn't leave you like that."

She pulled her hand back. "How can you sit in judgement on that of all things? You left me regularly, out of want instead of duty."

He let out half of a laugh. "Not out of want, Scarlett, at least not out of a want to leave you. More a want to not wring your adulterous neck."

"I never shared a bed with another man when married to you, Rhett."

"Let's not fight that argument again."

She sighed. "No, let's not. You're right. It's late. Why don't you just go to bed?"

* * *

Her crying woke him, as it always did. Perhaps she didn't realize that when they were estranged he left the house as much to not hear her. There was only so much he could take before he'd be forced to go to her and comfort her, and where would that have ended? Where it did end was another missed opportunity, he now realized.

He tapped on her door. "Scarlett?"

He tapped again. "Rhett?" she asked. It wouldn't be Ewan. He would have come in and held her.

"What was the dream this time?"

"My mother just died, and my father wasn't himself. Everyone needed me to take care of them and we were all so hungry."

"You're fine, Scarlett. Everyone you love is fine, and you've worked hard to make sure of it."

* * *

She brought him a picnic basket while he was out in the bluebonnets the next day. "You didn't need to do that."

"I've noticed you often lose yourself out here," she answered.

"I'm only lost when I don't know where you are," he said.

"I wasn't looking for gallantries, Captain Butler."

"And you're lost because you don't know where he is."

"I mean it, Rhett. Don't start."

"You still don't feel safe. Amazing. The war was twenty years ago."

"Everything could get taken away. If Ewan—" She found where he'd laid his jacket and sat next to it, coming down hard on the book he was reading. " _Anna Kara_.."

" _Anna Karenina_." He saw recognition in her eyes. "Do you know it?"

"Ewan tried to read it to me, but you know I was never one for novels and then I got lost in the French. Something about every happy family being identical but unhappy families are all different."

He should have known McLure was literate in French. English was the official language of New Orleans, but French would have been necessary for a student at Tulane to get around comfortably for five years. Scarlett's abilities were above rudimentary, but anything that forced her to think about something other than herself for more than two minutes was cast to the wayside, and a novel would go quickly.

"They'll have it in English eventually."

"I used to want to be different from everyone else, but now I'm happy to be the same—somewhat—as other families."

"You don't mean that."

"Not perfectly the same, no. Not every happy family is the same. Ewan and I have the family that suits us, even if I do too much business like a man or I've had too many husbands so the peahens cluck."

"Scarlett, if anything ever happens to Ewan, you know I'll take care of you."

"You're _married_ , Rhett."

"The papers for annulment have been drawn up since the morning after that wedding. When I once told you my head would spin at how fast you would divorce me to get to Ashley, I was talking of myself."

She thought for a moment. " _You_ divorced _me_ in a whirlwind, Rhett, and I never went to Ashley."

"It's one of the great ironies of my life, Scarlett. Yet my point is still this. Your safety is important to me. I won't let anything happen to you. If anything happens to McLure or McLure ever hurts you, I will be here in weeks and I will be unencumbered."

* * *

Released from their morning of schoolwork, the boys spent a happy afternoon showing Rhett all around the farm, which was planted with yet more cotton than last year. There were new horses to show off, and the boys were anxious to impress him with their new abilities as horsemen and farmers.

They didn't stop talking through dinner, and Scarlett seemed just as happy to not have anything to speak about. She smiled in gentle pride at her children, but circles under her eyes were darker by lamplight. Rhett knew a moment of anger that her husband would let her get so exhausted and worn out when he could easily fix the whole thing by stopping his work with the Rangers. Scarlett had said it was something about pensions and years of service. Rhett had no choice but to let it go. Still, when the family retired for the night and she looked as though she had no intention of sleeping, he worried for her.

* * *

 _She heard the horse's hooves pounding up the drive, looked out the window and saw the Yankee coming into the house. He was going to go through their things and eat their tiny dinner. She loaded Charlie's pistol and snuck down the stairs, hoping that somehow the soldier would just go away. It was not to be, and he kept walking toward her until she had to shoot him._

 _It wasn't a soldier, it was Bonnie's tiny body that landed on the ground in front of her. Rhett's hoarse cry met her ears as he picked her up, his eyes cold and hard as he looked at her. Then she was alone in the mist and the more she tried to get to the shadows of her loved ones, the faster they moved from her. "Please come back!" she cried, but only heard laughter. Finally unable to move, she fell to her knees on the ground as the laughter mocked her sobs._

"Darling, I'm here," he whispered, and he was. He had pulled her into his lap and was holding her tightly.

"I'm so cold," she said. She was shivering.

"I have you." He did something with the blankets, and she started to feel warm and safe. The only other thing she could want was him.

"Please don't let me go."

"Never."

"Love me?"

He sighed and then chuckled somewhat derisively. "You know I do."

She reached up around his neck and pulled his face down so that she could kiss him and press against him. "I want you to love me."

He hesitated a moment, and she deepened the kiss. He stopped her with a groan. She kissed him again. As she had hoped, he took over this time and had she not already been in her bed, still somewhat asleep, she would have been lost in a dark, dizzy place where only his arms held her and kept her safe. A question came to mind as he removed her night gown and caressed her first with his hands and then his mouth. She knew the answer by the time he moved over her body, but she couldn't care. She was lost in a fog of him, with her and around her and within her... moving with him, ultimately accepting the release he gave her and receiving his.

 _A/N: This chapter is titled after a song performed by the Lumineers._

 _Thank you so very much to the readers and reviewers including, **gabyhyatt, Truckee Gal, kanga85, COCO B, Aethelfraed, Melody-Rose-20, breakfastattiffanygs,** **mega700201,** and **heresvivi.**_


	17. Fragile

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Katie Scarlett was half asleep when it began, knowing only that she loved the man who was making her feel so safe and wanted and loved. Then she woke a little more and started to realize what she was doing. She was fully aware before he held her tightly and covered her with the kisses of his joy in the act. She knew what she had done. She also knew her face was covered with tears. He didn't seem to mind them.

"My love, I'm crying too," he whispered. "I knew all along, but I never dreamed…"

"Just hold me," she begged, wanting to keep the love that she knew she shouldn't have taken so mindlessly.

"Forever," he answered, not realizing the agony she felt. _This_ was her punishment, knowing that she couldn't avoid inflicting the pain that was coming to him… to all of them. She held back the sob. Not since the day of Frank's funeral had she known such agony of conscience.

He held her tightly and the agony she felt was held at bay, but she knew it would come back. With any luck he would fall asleep, and he did, and the tight embrace of his arms became gentler until it finally released entirely.

She slipped out of the bed and got dressed, choosing a split skirt so that she could ride to town. There was light peeping over the horizon through her window; she'd be early but not too early, and she needed to do this urgently. It had taken her weeks to stop craving the brandy when Doctor Meade told her she had to stop drinking it. She couldn't allow herself to start again, and she only knew one way to face her guilt.

She slipped down to the stable and saddled her horse. She could be there and home by breakfast. If she could stand herself after then, she would be fine. Then she would face the things she had to face.

* * *

 _Rhett Butler woke to the sound of Scarlett crying piteously. As he now was used to doing, he knocked on her door. "Scarlett?" She wouldn't stop crying. He knocked again. "Scarlett! Wake up!" When she didn't awake to his third knock, instead crying harder, he tried the door knob. It turned._

 _"_ _Darling, I'm here."_

 _What happened next was out of his wildest dreams. She was so soft and welcoming. He made love to her with all his heart. He couldn't think of the drunken moments of their last night together when he was desperately making memories to warm himself with. Even less could he think of the even more desperate night before that when he was sure she would never love him._

 _This Scarlett had loved him for years and loved him still. For once she wasn't shielding her weakness. She was exposing herself to him in ways she'd never done before, letting him have access to her as she'd never done. There was a tenderness like never before now between them. He took his time and gloried in touching her and the way she touched him._

 _He couldn't help whispering how much he loved it, how much he loved her as he felt her gasping and shuddering in his arms. His own passion reached its height quickly afterwards and there was only one word—her name—that his mind could grasp as he held her tightly._

 _Afterward he kissed her endlessly and pulled her close. This was why he'd never shared a bed with Caroline, why he'd barely been able to visit other women. Katie Scarlett O'Hara was the woman he wanted to grow old with._

He woke again, this time to the roosters crowing in the kitchen yard and a different light than he was used to seeing in his guest room at Scarlett's house. "Damn." He was in Scarlett's room, in her bed. He sat up and saw that she was gone. His nightclothes and robe were handy, so he quickly put them on and cracked open the door. There was no one in the hallway, so he went back to his room.

He sat in the chair near the window and watched the dawn. Was she his, finally, now? Would she leave with him and let him give her the life they always should have had? He would find a literal castle in Spain if she wanted one. He still needed to make some arrangements with his finances and Caroline, but it was hardly more than signing paperwork already in existence.

He glanced at the table in his room and saw the paper she'd left.

 _I never_

 _I can't_

She'd crossed those two lines out, and there was just one thing left on the page.

 _I'm sorry._

* * *

Ewan McLure was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to get home to a bath, his wife, and bed in that order. Perhaps a few minutes with the boys would be a good thing, too. Having used horses provided by the Galveston Sheriff and then other departments along the way, he'd ridden with several men out to Sabine Pass and north to Nacodoches. By the time they reached Texarkana, they found their men and took them to Dallas, where Ewan was put on a train to Houston.

He made the first train to Dixberg and might make it home to have breakfast with the boys. Then he would have to talk to his wife. He'd been offered a new job, and he was inclined to take it. It would be hard on Kate, but she was the most able woman in the state.

The depot was quiet when he got off the train, with just a few tradesmen preparing for the morning. He looked around town and saw not many other signs of life. A horse was being led by a woman from the church along the road in the direction of home.

Ewan looked again and recognized his wife just as she looked up and saw him. She stopped, and by the set of her shoulders he could guess the look on her face. As he approached her and saw her clearly, he knew.

He'd been fairly sure, since the man first arrived two years before, that this day would likely come. If he was completely honest, he'd known since the days she'd cried over her newborn twins that it was possible. He knew that she wouldn't exactly want to do it, yet when she did she wouldn't be innocent, either. He could and did blame Butler, for all his suave gentility that covered a ruthless nature that was clear in what he wanted and almost as clear in what he was willing to do to get it. Still he knew that she would be to blame as well. It didn't mean it hurt any less now that it happened.

There were two things Ewan was less sure about.

He'd never known if he would know when it happened. He was as aware as her previous husband that she was incapable of lying. He also knew that there were a lot of poor fools left behind her who she'd somehow managed to overwhelm with her charms such that they didn't realize her lies. He'd wondered if she would try that with him on something like this and whether she'd succeed.

Now he knew the answer to that question. The fear and desperation in her face told him she was not going to lie. She'd been to see the Padre if she was coming back from the church this early in the morning. That was well and good. Whether she'd ever intended to lie, she wouldn't now. She was trying to summon the courage to face what she'd done and what he would say and do about it.

"He told me I had to make my peace with you," she said without greeting, just louder than a whisper.

The second question he'd been pondering for two years was what he would do about it. There was no question he'd have to forgive her. He couldn't live with himself if he held a grudge. He also knew that there were things he'd done, although long before he married her, that wouldn't hold up to scrutiny. If he didn't forgive her… well, he knew he would forgive her.

The real question was how he would forgive her and what it would mean. Would he leave her? His job offer would keep him away from her for weeks at a time. It would mean the loss of so much that he treasured. It would also hurt the boys, who had reached an interesting point in their lives where they needed their pa. Keeping the separate bedrooms completely separate was an option. Could he stand to do that? His body reminded him of how much he'd been looking forward to coming home and he doubted it.

He fastened his bag to the horse's saddle. There was another consideration that he would have to face, perhaps soon. With a woman as bursting with life as his wife was, it seemed a constant possibility. He'd leave that thought to the side for now. There was no sense in borrowing that bit of trouble just yet.

There were too many moving parts, and there was no way to make a final decision before he even knew what he was deciding. There was also a long enough walk home to talk about it. In the back of his mind he knew what he would decide, but in the front of his mind he would weigh the issues.

He took her free hand. "Tell me how it happened."

To be fair to her, she didn't try to blame anyone else for what had happened. She was very clear that while much was the result of her anxieties, fears, and exhaustion, she had done something wrong. They were along their own private lane when he finally said, "If you had just locked your door…"

"Then you wouldn't be able to come."

"Were you expecting me to come home in the middle of the night?" He stopped and looked at her. "Have I, ever?"

"I always hope that you will."

"But with him in the house, Katie…"

She nodded. "You're right. I should have locked my door. He's always just knocked, before. Then I wake up, and we talk through the closed door."

"Did he do that last night?"

"I don't know. I didn't really wake up when he was holding me, even."

"And you truly didn't know the difference?"

"I wasn't thinking like that. I just knew I was safe until I realized he was kissing me with a mustache, but it was still dream-like. By the time I was fully awake and aware, we'd gone beyond the point where…" She couldn't finish the sentence.

He looked at her in her exhaustion and misery and sighed.

She whispered, "I'm sorry."

"So am I, Kate." Right now he regretted that he'd fallen in love with a woman who had so many complications in her life.

She didn't miss his subtle sarcasm. "Do you want me to leave?"

"Why would I want that?"

"Ewan, I did this terrible thing. I can't—I don't know how to make it right."

"How would leaving make it right? And why would you be the one to leave? This farm belongs mostly to you."

"So does my Tara in Georgia, but I can't go back there, either. And I can't go back to Atlanta. I'll just have to go further away. They say there's beautiful land upriver… Brazos County, maybe."

"You aren't going east with him?"

"I don't think he really wants me when it comes down to it. I hurt him too much. I killed all of his love for me. He said so."

"He's worked awfully hard to get you."

"He did that before, too, but as soon as we were married he started hating me. I made a mistake during our honeymoon and he never forgave it. I think he'd be less forgiving now."

Suddenly Ewan understood something about his lonely, frightened wife. In all her years with him, she'd been scared of doing the slightest thing wrong. He'd known that part. He didn't realize what she thought the cost would be. Because every time she'd disobeyed before, she was cast out. It had been initially been Atlanta society, which wasn't such a great loss to her, but Rhett had underscored the lesson in ways that crippled her. "You're not going anywhere."

"You can't want me anymore. I'm every bad thing a woman can be."

"You did make a mistake, Katie. A horrible mistake, and sure I'm angry and I can barely stand to look at you right now."

"Just give me a couple of days to clear out my things."

"Damn it, Katie! You did this to me. Why should it be my job to make you feel better? I don't want you gone. Just give me some time."

She really looked at him then and nodded. "Is there something, anything I can do?"

They were in the yard, now. "I could sure use a bath, Mrs. McLure."

"Soon as I'm done with the horse," she answered.

"That will give me time for a bite to eat and to settle in a bit," he said.

* * *

Rhett looked out his window and saw his host and hostess in the yard. Scarlett looked about the way she had since Rhett had arrived, tired and worried. McLure looked exhausted. He must have just come home, travelling overnight. They spoke for a few minutes in front of the stable before they parted, their hands touching until they had walked too far apart. Scarlett took the horse while McLure came to the house. Had she told him? She couldn't have. If he had been in McLure's shoes, they wouldn't have parted like that.

There was some outcry down stairs while the master of the house was greeted. After a few minutes, McLure's tired steps came up the stairs. Rhett looked over his own attire one last time before preparing to go to breakfast and then walked to his bedroom door. McLure was standing there and punched him square in the face.

"You took advantage of her."

"She begged me!" Rhett gingerly put his hand over his eye and stood up.

"She was half asleep!"

Rhett punched Ewan back. "You left her alone! She was exhausted with fear and her own demons!"

Ewan staggered back but didn't fall. "That still doesn't give you the right!"

Rhett sat on the bed. "She wouldn't wake up."

"So you walked into a married woman's room?"

"She was crying softly, but then she was crying hysterically. I worried that she would hurt herself."

"That doesn't mean that you should take advantage of her."

"I couldn't get her to wake up or stop crying until I picked her up in my arms. She started kissing me, and asking me. I tried to hold back, but honestly not very much. I've missed her and it was exactly what I wanted… and then…" He shrugged. "I can't wait to get her back East."

Ewan sat down on the chair. "She doesn't think you want her."

"She's wrong. I would take her and all of the children and force them down Charleston's throat if she would come."

"You're married."

"Since your wife sent a letter to her aunts that had all of Charleston asking questions, I don't need to stay married any more. My sister feels that she would now withstand whatever scandal came to her door if I annulled my marriage."

"Your marriage isn't valid?"

"Most of Charleston is witness to the fact that it was never consummated."

"So now you think this whole thing will be easily solved if I… what? I'm supposed to divorce her so you can remarry? What will happen when she disappoints you again?"

"She won't."

"But if she does? What if she just can't forget me, for example?"

"I've dealt with her other loves in the past."

"Have you really?"

Rhett ignored the question. "She and I belong together. Last night proves it."

Ewan thought with grim satisfaction that he had a very good card to play. "Is that why she saddled a horse at first light to find a priest and make her Confession?"

"She—" It hit Rhett hard. _She felt guilty for what they'd done together._ He looked at her note again.

There was a knock at the door, which was wide open. Katie Scarlett stood there, looking miserable and aware. Both men stood up out of habit, as gentlemen should when a lady enters the room. She shrank back a little, looking shamed by their sign of respect.

"Your bath is ready," she said to her husband. "I've told everyone not to disturb you until you were ready to come down."

"Thank you, darlin'," he answered.

To Rhett, she said, "I asked Mahala to make a picnic for you and the boys to take to the patch. I think they have questions. I told them a little when they asked about that thing at the ice cream shop. I don't want them…" She'd started to mumble and took a deep breath to say the rest. "They're still so young, but I can't hide what I am forever. Please don't crush… They're still _little_ boys." Her eyes begged him as she turned back down the hall.

"Katie," said Ewan.

She turned and gave him her attention.

"You're tired, too."

"I need to… ledger… study…" With that she wandered back down the hall.

 _A/N: This mesmerizing song was written and performed by Gordon Sumner, better known as Sting. If you're interested in an instrumental version, Herb Alpert's cover is spellbinding in its own way._

 _I should apologize for the way Chapter 16 ended, but it really needed to be that way. I appreciate how invested everyone is in this story and all the questions (and answers) that have been batted back and forth! I'm grateful to the readers and reviewers who are still with me, including **Phantom710, gumper, Aethelfraed, WhitmanFrostFiend, COCO B, Guest, Mistress, kanga85, gabyhyatt, littlebittykittyone, gogomohamad229, samandfreddie, Melody-Rose-20, Gwtwlover2, Hope, Helen, Surprised, breakfastattiffanygs, Caroline, Truckee Gal, mega700201, heresvivi, Conlyn70, , Another Guest,** **Mammy** , and **KatelovesEwan**._


	18. Strong Enough

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchel, her heirs, and their assigns._

Ewan came out of the bath and walked into his bedroom. Everything was laid out as he expected. Katie always arranged things in perfect readiness for his return whenever he left. He heard a commotion behind him and saw that Scarlett was back in the bath, refilling the tub

"I'm done," he said. "Thank you."

"I know," she whispered over her shoulder. "This is for me."

Without saying a word, Ewan got washcloth and towels while she undressed. She didn't know how to be natural around him. She felt dirty and ugly, and hid her face. When she got in the tub, she pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face, hoping he would leave her to her misery.

"Katie…"

"I don't deserve any kindness from you."

"If you did, it wouldn't be true kindness."

It hurt, that he would see it like that, but it was true. "I should have locked my door."

He knelt beside the tub. "Yes, you should have, but he seems the sort to knock the door down."

 _If I wanted you, no lock would keep me out._

"I should have sent him on his way as soon as he arrived."

"We both had reasons for keeping him here where we could watch him."

"I should never have sent that telegram."

Bit by bit lathered her body with soap and washed her off. "He would have found you within a year or two. Even the Bells have found us, now."

Scarlett looked up at that. "Since when?"

"Almost a year… last spring or summer."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You're not too good at keeping secrets, and I'm not convinced Butler should know."

"Do you think he's a danger?"

"He wants you, darlin'. He may try to use the boys to get you."

"Do you think he would?"

"I don't know how much he really loves you. I try to imagine myself in his shoes and what I would do if I were him, and badly as I would want you, I don't think I would try to hurt my own children to get you. He knows how much what he's done is going to hurt the boys, and yet he did it anyway."

"I played into his hands. You must hate me."

"I'm not the happiest with you I've ever been, for sure."

Kate was too ashamed to let him see her like this, and yet he silently insisted. She couldn't understand why he would do this. After she used the last of the water to rinse the most intimate of places herself, she let him dry her off.

At the door of the bath room, he tipped her chin up so that she had to look at him. "Are you mine or his?"

"Yours," she whispered, "if I'm worth wanting anymore."

"Katie…" His lips lowered to hers as he picked her up. He took her into her bedroom and shut the door. She'd already remade the bed, but she shook her head. "Not here—"

"Yes, here. It's _our_ room, _our_ bed. There's one way to bring it back to what it once was."

When he let her feet touch the floor she sank down to her knees, gently moving the edges of his robe aside.

"No, darlin'," he said, taking a step back from her and tugging her back up by her shoulders.

"I don't know—"

"If you're mine, I'm going to remind myself of every bit of you, and besides, it would be over too soon that way. If you recall, it's been a while, Mrs McLure."

Whatever she was going to say was lost under his lips and forgotten as his fingertips made good on his promise. He encouraged her to touch him, too, but his exploration of her body was relentless, reducing her to whimpering until he was leaning over her. "Are you sure you're mine?"

She nodded her head, still unwilling to look him in the eye. He tipped her chin around again. "Katie?"

"I love you, Ewan, and as long as you want me, I'm yours."

There would be other considerations later, but for now, it was what he needed, what he'd been dreaming of for nearly two weeks. She moved toward him, and there was no reason to prolong it. He held her gently as they both found their release, his coming after days of waiting, and hers a true expression of her love after the fool's gold of the night before.

It didn't mean he could really stand to see her. On the train he'd wanted bath, Kate, then bed, and now that he'd had the first two, the last on the list was demanding his tired body. Her strain and exhaustion finally claimed her body, but despite what he'd said, he couldn't sleep in this bed.

Perhaps it was that he just couldn't sleep here with her. He wanted her, but there was much he couldn't face at the moment, her inability to make a break with Butler, her infidelity, his own inadequacies to prevent it. Whatever the reasoning, he went back to his own bedroom where his own bed claimed him.

* * *

Scarlett woke before she could start crying. In this dream, she was losing everything all over again, but now Texas was lost to her as well. This beautiful, happy, open place was now dark and friendless, because of something she'd done to destroy it. Rhett was right. _You're so brutal to those who love you, Scarlett._ Was there any way to make Ewan love her, again?

She couldn't go back to sleep, certainly not here where Rhett's laughter haunted her. It was dark, and by the feel of the house, everyone was in bed. She had to be quiet. She couldn't expect Ewan to comfort her, and she wouldn't let Rhett—she shuddered. She put her robe on and tiptoed down the stairs. The ledgers really did need to be looked at.

* * *

Ewan could see that it was well toward noon when he woke the next morning. It was a beautiful morning, and the perfect day until he remembered the chaos he'd come home to. Kate, his darling Katie, had betrayed him. She'd betrayed herself as well. After getting dressed, he tapped on her door. She wasn't there.

He went down to the kitchen to see what was there to eat and found his nemesis at the table with a steak over half of his face. He couldn't bring himself to feel guilty for having landed so successful a punch; the man had it coming for a long time. Ewan found several things on the table to make himself a lunch. Mahala nodded to him when he came in, and handed him a plate.

"Is she out on the farm?" he asked.

"No one has seen Kate yet today," she answered. Mahala had a musical voice, part French and part something else. When she was cheerful, she often sounded as though about to sing an aria. Today the musical setting was _triste_. "Even the boys aren't sure where to find her. It's not like her to leave them for two days."

"You haven't seen her since yesterday?"

"She was sleeping. You know she doesn't sleep when you're not home. This morning, she's nowhere. She's not in her room, and the boys say they haven't seen her."

It was the reason he knew he wouldn't take the job offer. He was only gone a few times a year as it was, but she was not well when he returned. Last fall the doc had said the cold she had might have gone to pneumonia if she had worn herself out any more. Perhaps it was time to turn in his badge.

"Maybe she's left you." Butler pulled the steak off his face to look at Ewan.

Ewan saw the bruising on his face and winced. His own cheekbone was pretty bruised, but not that badly. "She's not going anywhere. We talked enough yesterday to establish that."

"You're saying she wants to stay?"

"That's what she told me yesterday before I took her to bed." Ewan made a show out of putting some bread and cheese on his plate.

Rhett chuckled. "I'll be damned. She can go so easily from me to you."

Ewan shook his head. "Wasn't easy for her at all. She obviously has feelings for you, but she says she loves me and she's staying here."

"She can't think that this will all go away. It's clear that—"

"Listen here, Butler," Ewan said, "you will not make a big deal out of this. You won't broadcast her shame or humiliate her any more than you've already done."

Rhett nodded. "If people know, she'll have to leave… and then I can take her wherever we want to go."

"If you hurt her reputation, there will be no reason for me to avoid scandal. I will put a hole in you, Butler, and then the only place you'll be going is the cemetery."

That shut the other man up. He put the steak back over his eye and fingered his book with the other hand. Ewan recognized the book as one he'd tried to read Kate the previous summer. She complained that it was far to confusing with all the names. There were a lot of characters in it.

"So which Alexei do you see as yourself?" he asked.

The steak came down again. "What?"

Ewan nodded to the book. "In _Anna Karenina_. Are you Karenin or Vronski? I can see you as the authoritarian husband who thought he molded his wife just the way he wanted her, but perhaps you think you're the lover who wanted to mold her in a different direction. Pygmalion, again, except it ends so badly for the poor girl."

Rhett shook his head. "She left her bitter husband and the confinements of society and she's happy with Vronksi. He marries her, after all."

"You haven't finished the book, then."

Rhett abhorred condescension when it was directed at him. "And which man do you prefer?"

"Levin."

"Hopelessly in love with the fair Katerina."

"With him she finds a world where she can ultimately be herself and he learns to appreciate her, but you'll get to that part of the story."

Rhett grunted behind his steak. "I don't know who you think you're married to. I know who I was married to."

Ewan thought of Anna Karenina's fate and whispered, "I hope not." He finished the ale Mahala had brought him and brought his dishes over to the sink, where she took them from him. "I better go find her," he said. "We'll be back for dinner, I'm sure."

He decided to look in the study to see if Kate left a note. If she wasn't there, he needed to look through last year's ledger anyway. On one of his trains it occurred to him to wonder how the horses' feed usage compared to last year. Maybe this evening he could ride around the property and see how the feed crops were coming in.

He cracked the door to the study and heard her light snoring before seeing anything in the room. He would have to ask the boys where they did look since they missed an obvious place. She was face down on one of the cotton ledgers, drooling ever so slightly. A burned out candle sat by her, suggesting that she'd come downstairs overnight and never left.

"Katie," he said as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped and sat back, her eyes darting everywhere. She smiled to see him and then let dismay take over her face. Her mouth opened and closed, and then she shook her head. "What time is it?"

"Not quite noon. How long have you been asleep?"

"I have no idea. I was trying to…" She shrugged. "I couldn't sleep."

"Everyone's been looking for you."

She sighed. "The more I try not to be trouble for anyone, the more trouble I am. Do you need me to do something?"

"I need you to be my wife.

She looked at her hands folded in her lap. "I've failed at that."

"Yesterday."

She looked at him, not sure what he meant. "Yes, I failed you, yesterday."

"We've been married six years, minus a couple of weeks, Scarlett. That's… over two _thousand_ days you've succeeded. You've failed on one day."

"You still want me?"

"Why did you come down here in the middle of the night?"

"I didn't want you to have to comfort me. I'm so… aware of having done this terrible thing. I have no idea how to become what I was to you, how to fix it."

He walked around the desk and lifted her out of the chair with a sigh. "I have no idea, either, but I need to have my wife. All the things you did two days and two weeks and two months ago I still need. This is a busy time of year, you know. We need to do the things that keep the farm going. Beyond that, I admit it's going to be hard. I can't stop being angry just because the cotton has to get into the ground, but I can set it aside for now and maybe things will happen and I'll forget."

"I'm so sorry, Ewan. Can you forgive me?"

He pulled her tight. "Of course I forgive you. I can't imagine a situation where I would bed an ex-wife, but before I met you I was hardly a monk."

She pulled back, surprised. He pulled her close again. "I choose not to let either of our pasts matter," he said.

* * *

A few days later, Ewan was riding back from the fields with the twins, who were on their ponies. They had all worked hard, helping with some of the planting, which was running a little later than Kate would have liked. It wouldn't risk the crop at all, but Kate liked to have it done by Palm Sunday every year and they would probably run a couple of days into the week after this time.

"Pa?" Jerry was on his left. Langston had come up on the right. Clearly they had something they wanted to discuss.

"You boys have something to talk about?"

"You remember when we asked about being a chip off the old block?"

"People say that when boys look or act like their pa."

"The man at the ice cream shop in Galveston said it to us when we were there with Uncle Rhett. So we wondered why we look so much like Uncle Rhett."

"We asked Ma," Bud added, "and she says we look like him because she was married to him when we got in her tummy."

Trust her to give the simplest answer she could come up with.

"Does that mean he's our pa?" Jerry asked.

"Did she say Uncle Rhett is your pa?"

"No, she said she picked you because you're the best pa."

Bless her. She might have betrayed him, but she was loyal, and that was why he wouldn't consider leaving her even though she still felt for her previous husband.

"Do you have some reason not to believe your ma? Do you _want_ Uncle Rhett to be your pa?"

"No-oo," said Bud, "but is it ok to talk to him about things like we do with you? He's teaching us how to sail and all."

Ewan stared in the distance where the stable was visible but not yet the house. It was inevitable that some stray remark would start this conversation, and perhaps they'd been living on borrowed time, especially with Butler in and out of the house on a regular basis. He wasn't going anywhere.

"I think you have an advantage in that Uncle Rhett can teach you many things I never learned."

"And you know things he never learned?"

"That's right."

"We don't have to call him pa, though."

"Did he ask you to?",

"No," said Jerry, "but if he's our pa then maybe we ought to."

"You don't want to?"

Bud piped up. "He says strange things to ma. He makes her feel bad."

"Is that why they got a divorce?" asked Jerry. "She said they said a lot of bad things to each other."

"That's probably it then," answered Ewan. "At any rate, it's probably better if you call him Uncle Rhett. If he or your mother say different, let me know."

"All right, pa," said Jerry.

"Hey Pa?" said Bud. When Ewan turned in his direction he continued, "I'm glad you're our pa. I'm glad ma picked you."

"Me too, son," said Ewan. They were just about home by now. He could send the boys in to help tend their ponies and by the time they all got washed up it would be time for supper. This conversation was inevitable and wasn't over by a long way. He was glad to have it resolved for today at least.

 _A/N: Today's song comes from Sheryl Crow._

 _I forget who commented about Anna Karenina, which actually hadn't been translated to English yet. I can't find a date for French publication, but I'm assuming that it was pretty quickly after the Russian if not before the Russian, given that the Russian aristocracy of the time spoke almost exclusively French, so I took a leap. Someone who's educated in New Orleans in the 1850s will know French well, and someone from Charleston of that era and then goes to spend time in Paris during the war will probably have learned enough to get through. At any rate it made for an interesting conversation or two among the characters. I don't think Scarlett will end up like Anna; as Rhett would say she values her pretty little neck too much. However, I think she would feel many of the same things._

 _Still loving all of the hit counts from the readers and the awesome conversations amongst the reviewers, especially **WhitmanFrostFiend, gumper, gabyhyatt, gogomohamad229, littlebittykittyone, Mistress 1 & 2?, Pro Ewan Kate, COCO B, Melody-Rose-20, Conlyn70, Truckee Gal, kanga85, Mammy, Gwtwlover2, Guest 1 & 2 & 3, breakfastattiffanygs, KatelovesEwan, Rhett hater, Aethelfraed, mega700201, McLure, Sushibear144, , ProRhett nomore, ** and **Aunt Pitty**_


	19. I Saw You First (Key West Intermezzo)

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _Song citation: John Mellencamp_

"Leo Tolstoy is one sick bastard."

Ewan's guest was sitting at the dining room table early one morning, with the book closed next to him. Rhett was bleary-eyed, as though he'd been reading through the night.

"I take it you've read about Anna's fate."

"Obviously, I don't want that for Scarlett."

"I don't think Vronksi or even Karenin would have wanted it for Anna."

"Vronski just wanted to be free to love her… he did want to marry her but never could... the reality wasn't what he was expecting."

"No, the reality of love is children to raise and farms or business to tend." Ewan sat down across the table. "I don't think she is like Anna at all, do you? You wouldn't expect her to…"

"She values her own pretty neck too much, the Scarlett I know, or knew. Is she capable of such a thing, now?"

"The Katie I know wouldn't. She has too much passion to survive and win out." He shook his head "It's just a book, after all. It doesn't have to mean anything whatsoever."

They were quiet for a few minutes. A little more of the dawn came through the windows.

"When I left her, when we signed the divorce papers... when I convinced her or forced her to sign, I destroyed something in her. I wanted her to hate me as much as I hated what I was doing."

"What do you want for her now?"

"I want her, in all her fire and passion, to direct it at me."

"She still does in many ways." Ewan hated to admit it, but he had to call a spade a spade.

"I want to be in love _with_ her, together."

"You had your chance for that."

"I know, and I wasn't able to accept it on the one day it was offered."

"I had the impression that it was closer to a year that it was offered."

"Six months, actually. I only had six months to grieve my daughter, come through the fog of my life and realize that I still respected and admired my wife before they told me I had to choose between her and my sister. It wasn't enough."

"You chose your sister."

"What kind of a monster gives that sort of ultimatum?"

"I've never met the man, but I've met men like him."

"I lost my wife, and my children."

"If you had it to do again, how would you choose?"

"I have to choose my sister. Scarlett was able to take care of herself."

"We've discussed this before. You have a tendency to leave her at the damnedest times of her life."

"She's always pulled through. Worse than a cat for landing on her feet all the time."

"It comes at great cost, and you've always mocked her for it."

"I've always been proud of her."

"Then why did you tell her it wasn't a compliment that she could handle herself against the armies of the war? Why did you get angry with her for working so hard to keep her family's farm afloat while you were off fighting? Why did you mock her for her marriage to Kennedy when it was the only thing she could do? Why did you leave her side when she was fighting for her life? Why did you leave her, time and again?"

"She didn't care if I admired her or not."

"How could you possibly know that?"

* * *

Rhett spent the morning napping under the trees at the edge of the bluebonnets. He decided not to go back to the house for dinner. Scarlett came after dinner time with a basket for him. He hadn't seen her very much, and not at all privately, since he'd fallen asleep in her arms.

He was surprised when she set the basket down and sat on the other side of it. "I've been hiding from you. I can't seem to do this all at once. I can only deal with a piece of it at a time."

He reached across and took her hand. She didn't pull away. "Why did you cry?" he asked.

"So many reasons," she said, looking away.

"Can you tell me honestly? Can you try?"

"At first I wasn't thinking about who I was with, I just knew that I was safe," she whispered. "After—by the time we were done, I knew, and I realized it's how it always should have been between us, if I had just… and if you had…" She looked up the, to see if he understood.

He nodded. "Yes, exactly." The two times that had come close, they'd both been fairly if not completely drunk. This time it had been perfectly natural. "There was such a sweetness between us this once."

"And then I realized, it cannot be, and it shouldn't have been even if it was wonderful… and I knew I was going to hurt you and that Ewan would be hurt."

"You care for me, then?"

"I never stopped, Rhett."

"Come away with me, then."

"What about my children?"

"Bring them."

"What about Ewan's children?"

"Bring them all. I already have a big house ready for us, fully furnished."

"Does your wife live there?"

He shook his head. "No, it's down the street and cross lots, very much like the houses on Peachtree Street and Ivy Street were."

"But you plan to keep her."

"I'm not clear on that point, yet." There might still be one or two advantages to staying married to Caroline.

"And what do I do there in this nice big house that's cross lots and down the road from your house with your wife?"

"You do whatever you please, my love."

"Whatever I want?"

"Anything."

"What if I want to farm my cotton here in Texas?"

"Scarlett."

"Things have been so peaceful here. I'm building something, and it's getting better every year. We've been making money the past few years."

"Katie?" She looked at him. He shrugged. "Please come."

She looked at him oddly at that turn. "Ewan… every night he gives me the option to go to his room or stay in my own."

Rhett had been watching in the morning. He knew which she chose. He knew his own battle was uphill.

"I can't quite make out whether he really wants me or not, but if I stay with him, I don't wake up screaming. No one has to calm me down or make me feel better."

"He wants you, my dear. Don't doubt it. He won't beg you or tell you, because he's got some noble idea that he can't try to sway you, but he wants you."

"You're not so noble."

"No, I'm not. I will use any advantage I can get over you."

"So that I can come to Charleston to be your whore."

"Don't you dare use such language."

"Even when it's accurate?"

"Never a whore, Scarlett. Paramour or lover always, but never anything like that."

"Fiddle dee dee, Rhett! What does it matter what word we use?"

"Because I know it matters to you."

"I've liked being a cherished wife. I didn't take advantage of it when Charlie loved me so much. I might have—"

"You might have worried him into an earlier grave than the one he had, if the woman you are now were to greet him in the bedroom. He would have had no idea what hit him."

She pulled her hand away. "Indeed, Captain Butler" she said primly.

"Don't get all ladylike with me, Scarlett. I know the real you, remember?"

She looked at him under her lashes and a smirk teased the underside of his mustache. "Besides, you were a cherished wife when _we_ started."

"Was I really?"

"Of course."

"All I remember is that you constantly seemed to want something I didn't know how to give you."

"Oh, you knew, after a fashion."

"If I had known, I would have known how to keep you from leaving me."

"All you had to do for that was not think about Mr. Wilkes."

"Was that really all?"

He tilted his head. "Maybe not. Maybe I needed more, too. Maybe I told myself that if you could let go of your Ashley you would suddenly be filled with love for me.

She thought back to that night, running through the mist and knowing what she finally wanted. "That _is_ how it happened, I suppose."

"I dreamed of taking you to Europe when we got married. I wanted to show you the world and shower you with everything."

"Why didn't you?"

"Would you have left your stores and your precious mills and your precious Ashley?"

"You never asked, so we'll never know."

"I was pretty sure I knew, and I couldn't stand to be turned down."

"What if I turn you down, now?"

"It's perfectly safe, now. I know you'll turn me down."

"How do you know?"

"You love your precious farm that you've built from the ruin of post-war decay. You love your precious Texan with his upright morals and law degree and gee-shucks attitude. I'll grant you that he's more attractive than Mr. Wilkes and much better able to deal with the world that exists now than even I am in some ways, but he seems a bit stale."

"And the world you're offering me is so much better?"

"You know you love me _because_ I'm a varmint."

A crease formed in her forehead as she observed, "I know that life with you can be more interesting, but at the end of the day…"

"At the end of the day, who do you want to be with? To love you? To hold you after your nightmares?"

* * *

A few nights later, Scarlett looked at Ewan as he offered her the same choice yet again. "Which do _you_ want?" she asked.

"I want you," he said. "We have a good life here, Katie."

"That's all thanks to you."

He shook his head. "You built this farm, partially with your bare hands. You bought the land and got it planted that first year before I even met you. You've done it every year since. You haggled with the traders and factors until they consider you to be one of the best cotton men in the county."

"That's just the cotton side."

"Yes, and you help me keep the books on the side for the horses, too, and when I can't make a sale, you somehow manage to sweet talk the customers for me, too. This farm is a partnership as well as a marriage. If you leave, Katie…" He wouldn't mention it until she decided, but he realized he might just take that job.

" _He_ used to be my partner, too," she observed.

"It sounds as though you had quite a business back East."

"When we got married it all changed. He could be so mean and nasty. When I was married to Frank, Rhett would point out all my sharp business practices and laugh that I was bad but clever, but afterwards, he was unkind about it. He made me feel small and wrong. I could never get the upper hand with him."

"He loved you and had no idea how to make you understand you loved him."

"Now he says it will be different from that." Or did he? Did he actually say their life would be different from what it had been in Atlanta? What would Rhett actually expect of her? What was he really offering her?

That night she dreamt of angry glowers and drunken rage. She woke, startled. Ewan's strong arm around her and he murmured in his sleep. She fell back asleep and dreamed of her beautiful cotton in bloom.

* * *

"Uncle Rhett?"

He looked at Langston and smiled. "Yes, Bud?"

"You know how we were talking about chips off the old block and how you were married to ma way before we were born?"

 _The boys had come with him to the patch and asked him about his life with their mother. They were thrilled to hear that he had known her back when she was hardly older than Ella was now. He had to draw on some of Melanie Wilkes' stories about the war, but he had plenty of his own as well. They boys thrilled to know that they had a mother who was so fearless. They'd seen her dickering with tradespeople and even helping Pa occasionally with the horses, but Uncle Rhett had known her during a war. Having a mother who dodged armies and led a wagon across battlefields was something to brag about._

 _They asked questions about Wade and Ella as small children, enjoying the tales of growing up in Atlanta. Then they asked far too many questions about Bonnie. For some reason, it had been easier to tell the boys about their older sister than to any person he'd spoken with about her, even Melanie Wilkes. They had come back and looked at the pictures in the drawer Scarlett kept for him._

"I was glad to talk about those days," he said.

"We've been wondering. Should we call you Pa?"

"Why would you call me Pa?"

"You are, aren't you? Really? You and Ma are our parents like Ma with her other two husbands are the parents of Wade and Ella?"

Rhett turned to the other boy. "What do you think, Jerry?"

"No offense, Uncle Rhett, but I think Pa is Pa. He's been with us since we were born, and he's taught us everything."

Rhett nodded thoughtfully. "That's true when you consider it that way."

"Ma says she picked Pa to be our Pa," said Langston. "But didn't she pick you, too?"

Rhett thought for a moment and nodded his head. "Actually, you might say I picked her to be you Ma. You might also say I—well, boys, you might say it's my fault that we don't all live together in Atlanta or Charleston. Let's stick with Uncle Rhett for now, and maybe we'll decide something different another time."

* * *

The mornings were getting warmer. The early spring flowers were fading, and Butler would probably leave soon. Ewan listened to his wife retching into the basin. It had been every day this week. She rinsed her mouth and crawled back into the bed. It was becoming obvious to him. She was exhausted almost the moment she woke in the morning and she was hardly eating even though her dresses were getting tight in one or two places.

It was time to face what must be faced, so as dinner ended that night, he walked around the table and took her hand with a smile. She smiled back and they quietly walked outside into the sunset. He walked with her hand in hand for several minutes until they were well away from the house. There was a pecan tree in a high spot that gave a little bit of a view. He turned to face her.

"Katie… darlin'… The situation is more complicated, isn't it?"

She didn't ask what he meant. "It appears that there's a baby, if that's what you mean."

"Since before we went to Galveston?"

"That's how long since my last cycle," she said. "I would like to think it's probably ours… but Ewan, what if he or she looks exactly like the twins?"

Ewan had been thinking about this in the three weeks since he'd got home. Butler and the twins were starting to become aware of their full connection. Another Butler baby would perhaps strain the situation. Ewan was not looking forward to the questions they would eventually have to answer if this child was the other man's.

Nevertheless, he had signed on for an awkward family, and had stayed even after understanding more about Katie's third marriage than an outsider should have knowledge of. Those conversations had come in bits and pieces before Ewan and Katie had ever shared a bed. The time to leave was long past. He had long since decided that Katie and her children were worth the price. If she was willing to be the wife in such a family, he would be the husband.

"If he or she looks just like the twins, then we'll have one more wonderful child in our family." He tipped up her chin. "That assumes that you're staying with me."

"I'm married to you, and I love you. I'm staying, but it assumes you still want me."

He leaned down and kissed her, and they stayed together until the sun went the rest of the way down.

* * *

Rhett watched them from the porch as they were silhouetted in the twilight. They walked until they reached that tree and then stopped to face each other. Scarlett's hand moved protectively over her middle and then McLure's hand reached almost to the same place before taking her other hand. Rhett suddenly knew what they were talking about.

 _She's pregnant._

He took a long drag on his cigar to steady his nerves. _This could change everything_. Or perhaps it would change nothing. It was possible that she'd already been pregnant when she had shared her bed with him.

Rhett still didn't want those pictures published if he could help it. That being the case, he had nothing to offer Scarlett that she didn't have better in Texas. However, if McLure threw her and the child out, Rhett would have to make that move. As he watched the pair embrace, looking like one of those new-fangled cards people mailed out, he suspected the pictures would not be published.

He had to know what the situation was and how the McLures planned to handle it. The next morning after packing his bags, he asked Scarlett to accompany him one last time to the patch. He also wanted her to be aware of a decision he had made.

"I'd like to be buried here, Scarlett, if that doesn't trouble you."

"Here in the patch?"

He pointed to a section on the eastern edge of it. "That small burial plot is on your land. I would like you to bury me there."

They started walking in that direction.

After a minute or two Scarlett commented. "I know there are spaces left there, and if you wish for it, I won't say no. It's so far away from your loved ones, though."

He had thought she would likely be amenable to his initial request. She could be generous about such things. The next part of the conversation was the part she might oppose. "I'd like to move Bonnie here."

"Have you lost your—" Scarlett stopped dead in her tracks, several yards from the wrought-iron fence that delineated an old family plot from before her purchase of the land. She wondered what on earth he was thinking of, to dig up her baby and carry her so far.

Rhett back tracked. "I want her to be with the people who really, truly love her, and I think part of her spirit is already here. Isn't that why you bought the land?"

She nodded. "I suppose."

"The twins already love this land where you're raising them, and they've been asking about her. They'll build their lives in Texas and visit her here." He reached around and put his hand on her stomach. "As will this one."

Scarlett whirled around and faced him. "I—I'm not—"

"You are, aren't you?"

She put her hand over her stomach and said, "So what if I am? It's nothing to you."

"It may be a great deal to me, Mrs. McLure," he said mockingly. "You know that as well as I do."

"But it may not," she said. "I've been with Ewan before and after… several times."

"I gathered, at least the after part." He tilted his head. "Would it be so horrible? Would your knight in shining armor cast you out?"

"He says he wants me, and that he wants this baby in any case."

"If he changes his mind and does cast you out, you know where to find me. I'm off to Galveston, Scarlett, and after that back to the hell some call Charleston." He bowed. "I'll be in touch, in case you want—or need—to contact me." He turned to walk away.

Scarlett walked the rest of the way to the fence and grasped the top rail. She'd been hoping that Rhett wouldn't realize until the next time she saw him, when she would hopefully be holding a baby with blond hair and blue eyes.

She didn't hear him come back. He turned her into his arms and kissed her. "I'll be back for the season if I don't see you before then," he whispered. "Take care of yourself and the baby."

He left her gripping the rail until the black spots cleared from her vision and there were indentations from the fence rail on her hands.

 _A/N: It hasn't escaped my notice that this is probably the most divisive story among the GWTW works on FFN. I never expected that anything I wrote could evoke such passionate responses as the reviews for this poor yarn. As I see it, in years to come, this poor story will be a flash in the pan that readers will snicker over as they move on to other tales. On the other hand, there are fewer than 1000 stories here and fewer than half of those are finished. There are only a handful of GWTW stories on Archive of Our Own, and I can't really find anything else. So when we read a story and it's disappointing, it's a big deal because there's not very many things to turn to and purge the image. My suggestion to the people who don't like this story is to please take all of this passion you're feeling and write the stories in your hearts. Give us all more to read and discuss. Also, is there any place in social media or whatever where people can post prompts and story requests? I note that the forums on FFN haven't really been used that way, and it's too bad. There might be more stories if there were less of a vacuum in knowing what the readers might like. I've been getting story ideas based upon comments in reviews I've read, but it's not the same as getting actual prompts or wishes._

 _All of that said, I adore the reviews, good and bad. Just please don't pile up on each other over it. Everyone brings a different understanding of the world to the party and GWTW hits everyone in different ways and my story here hits everyone in different ways. Thanks to every reviewer: **Tdtd2012, kanga85, KatelovesEwan, Truckee Gal, Rhett Hater, Mclure, Gwtwlover2, gabyhyatt, COCO B, heresvivi, ProRhett Nomore, Melody-Rose-20, samandfreddie, Is this GWTW, Aethelfraed, , Another Guest, romabeachgirl, mega700201, Mistress, Guest, Mammy, garnet911,** **Ewans love,** and **Melanie Wilkes.**_


	20. Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of

_The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

There was a tea at the Butler residence when the master of the household returned from his latest trip. The mistress was pouring when she heard a light step on the porch and… whistling! This was not something Caroline had previously experienced, so she excused herself. She asked her friend Margaret to take over, and slipped out into the hall. She was just in time to see the back of a man who indeed looked like her husband.

She followed him into his study. "You're back then?" she asked, referring to the obvious.

"Ah, Mrs. Butler," he said. "I presumed you were occupied with your friends. I didn't wish to interrupt your female gathering."

She looked hard at him. He was almost jaunty, with a healthy color. She had never seen him look so happy, so pleased with himself and the world…

"You've been—you've _been_ —with her!"

"Perhaps. It's nothing to you, of course."

"How can you say that? I'm your wife!"

"I'm fairly certain _Mrs. Butler_ is hosting a dozen ladies in the parlor. You'd best get back there if you don't want Peggy Collins' sticky fingers to abscond with your geegaws."

"This. Conversation. Isn't. Over," she hissed as she left to go back.

Margo whispered in Caroline's ear as soon as she sat down. "Was that Rhett? He's looking quite handsome today."

Caroline sighed. There was a time when she would have given anything to put a spring in his step. Now she would give anything to wipe that look off his face. She would settle for ruining the life of the O'Hara woman as much as that woman had ruined hers.

* * *

Caroline Butler smiled with delight as she added an extra flourish to her name on the legal documents. Daddy said the paperwork would be filed with the courts as soon as they could. It was something about Rhett being out of town so much and she was filing this action on his behalf. They were also suing for damages because of her own rights being violated.

"There it is, Daddy, all done!"

Charles Bell nodded to the lawyers, who took the documents and assured him it would be taken care of immediately. The gentlemen spoke for a while, but Caroline was busy making her plans. First of all, the boys' names would need to be changed. Obviously from McLure to Butler, but then Langston's would be Langston Butler Butler, and of course Gerald O'Hara couldn't be allowed to keep that name in the least. The lawyer explained that they could never remove the O'Hara woman from their birth certificates since she was the natural mother of them, but Caroline would do everything necessary to expunge her otherwise.

There was a nursery to plan, too! Not for babies, of course, but they would have to outfit the guest room with appropriate furniture and toys for two boys. Proper Charleston clothes would be needed, too! Surely nothing available in Texas would be good enough for two Butler children. Of course, Caroline would need more clothes herself for all of the sorts of events the boys would require her to attend. Surely Rhett would understand that she would have to have a bigger allowance for all of that! She settled in her chair and glowed with the pleasure of her plans.

When the lawyer left, her father tapped her on the shoulder. "Sugar, we're going to need to use some of your allowance for this month to get the lawsuit filed."

"Daddy! I need that money!"

"They need to take it to Texas and find a lawyer who will work with them out there."

"But Daddy, we're bringing the boys here."

"They were born out there, so the laws of Texas will be used to determine what happens and the lawyers need to work with Texas lawyers."

"What's happened is that those children belong to Rhett and need to come here to his house."

"And the lawyers will make that case, but they need to do it in Texas."

"Why do I have to pay for it?"

"You're the one filing the case."

"Daddy! How am I supposed to get by without my allowance?"

"You can do without so many new dresses for a month or two, Sugar. You look beautiful in everything you've got. Besides, when you win your own suit against Mrs. McLure, you'll have plenty of money."

It was something to look forward to.

* * *

Dixon County, TX, Summer 1882

Kate McLure was in her summertime mode, spending the early morning assessing the cotton fields, looking to see where the weeds were starting to come up and which fields needed water next. Then she gave directions to the work crews and cleaned up to spend time with Aiden and Joseph until dinner time.

After dinner, she sat with the ledgers in the office and made a first pass at the day's mail. On this particular day there were some bills, a receipt for a horse sale, and a large envelope from the county courthouse. She opened it up and read the contents twice before she understood the slightest bit of it. Then she read it all again.

"Katie-darlin'," Ewan put his head in the door, "it's almost supper…"

He saw the papers on her desk and picked them up. He glanced through and sat on the sofa to read through them again. Finally he looked up. "It's complete bullshit."

"It's not! They're going to…"

"It really is, Katie. This lawyer is an idiot, or perhaps Rhett's father-in-law wasn't honest about it, but it's bullshit."

"What's conso—"

"Consortium? That's when a husband and wife have relations."

Kate's eyes narrowed, for once understanding how foolish it was. "So it says that a man who freely spends time with whores is ignoring his wife because of _me_?"

"As I said..."

Their eyes met with a grim look, "Bullshit."

Ewan sent a telegram to Henry, to whom copies had been sent as her lawyer of record at the time of her divorce. As during the previous summer, Wade was working with him. Within an afternoon, the two lawyers and lawyer-in-training ascertained that they each had copies of the same documents. The communications were necessarily brief and non-specific, but the consensus was that both lawsuits were easily refuted by one key issue, either interpretation of which of which left Caroline Bell Butler without recourse.

"DISSOLUTION OF CONTRACT NOT VALID IF DONE UNDER DURESS" read one telegram from Atlanta.

"PRODUCT OF ENCOUNTER DOES NOT BELONG TO PLAINTIFF IF DEFENDANT WAS TREATED AS TRANSIENT LABOR" said another.

Ewan wiped his eyes. Some day he might travel to Atlanta just to punch Henry Hamilton in the face, but at least the old codger didn't use the actual words "divorce" or "prostitute". He was happy to leave the law behind after the war because he hated thinking about life in such ways. Still, as Ewan read the suits, he only needed one word to reply.

"AGREED."

Within a month a brief to refute any standing Caroline might claim to take possession of the boys was drafted, as well as a countersuit in Katie Scarlett O'Hara's name. Ewan hated everything to do with it, hated what could happen in the worst case and even what would have to happen in any case. It was he who would have to explain it to Kate and he had several sleepless nights as he prepared the paperwork for her.

"What is alienation of affection?" she asked as she signed her maiden name to the lawsuit.

"It means that someone got in the middle of your marriage and caused your husband, in this case, to fall in love with someone else. We think that she will withdraw her lawsuit if we threaten her with our own."

"So none of this will have to go to court?"

"No, my dear, but you will have to go to Charleston."

"What? Why?"

"We refute Caroline's standing on the basis of two possible situations for your pregnancy with the twins. One is that Rhett was forced to divorce you and therefore the divorce wasn't legal."

"Oh." Scarlett sat back weakly in the chair she was sitting on in their study.

"The other possibility was that he was using you as he would a prostitute and had no thought of any children he might conceive with you."

She sighed. "In a way, they're both true as I understand that night. But what does it mean if the divorce is invalid?"

Ewan reached across the desk and took her hand. "If Butler chooses to pursue that line of thought and a judge agrees, then you're still married. The twins are legally his children."

"What about you? What about Aiden and Joseph?"

"It would make you a bigamist, but an inadvertent one so we would have to quickly annul our marriage. And Aiden and Joseph—" Ewan cleared his throat but it didn't help much—"All of the children born to you since you first married him could legally be his."

"No!" She stared at the documents she'd just signed with bile in her throat.

"Our only advantage with him is that for some reason he still doesn't want the pictures of his sister to be released. The advantage with Caroline Butler is obvious. If you show up in Charleston, ready to take up life as Scarlett Butler again, we're pretty sure _she_ will back off completely."

"How long would I have to be there?" asked Kate.

"Hopefully no more than week or two."

"When should I go?"

"Sooner is better than later," admitted Ewan. His hand reached out and caressed her middle. "If this one should look like him, it will hurt your chances with Mrs. Butler considerably. It will suggest a long-standing relationship and then we can't claim he treated you like a prostitute."

Kate dug around in desk drawers until she found a handkerchief. "I suppose you've already got all my tickets?"

"You leave tomorrow. Henry and Wade will meet you in Atlanta and you'll travel together from there. Ella will go with you."

"Essentially I'll be there with the children I had when we got married."

"Henry liked the symmetry of it."

Kate felt like she was shrinking in the chair. She could lose everything. "What if Rhett decides to keep me?"

"I hope if that's the case he will let you come back here to raise the children. He bought the house in Galveston. At least…" Ewan shrugged. This was the part of the situation that gave him nightmares.

"And you?"

"I was offered a new job with the Rangers last spring. I don't think they've filled it, yet. If I'm forced to leave this life, or if we have to break it up..." He shook his head.

"I can't believe this is happening. I was just trying to make the best I could from my wreck of a life. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

They held each other then and the rest of the household melted away. They sneaked up to their bedroom and locked the door. Kate threw herself at her husband, kissing him for all he was worth.

"Hey," he said. "We can take our time a little bit."

He backed away to take off his boots and trousers and turned to see that she was down to her chemise. She reached out to start unbuttoning his shirt and moments later they were in his bed.

"Didn't we just get out of this bed a couple of hours ago?"

"I didn't realize I'd have to leave it for weeks tomorrow," she said, kissing his chin and jawline. "There are memories I need to take with me.

He ran his hand down her back and realized there were things he would miss as well.

They were thinking of getting up for dinner when Kate reached for his hand and laid it on her tummy.

"What?" he asked. Then he felt it. The baby was moving under his hand and even after Aiden and Joseph it never grew old.

* * *

"But why can't we go, Pa?" asked Jerry. The family sat in the parlor and rested after supper as the heat of the day slowly drained out the open windows. Out in the distance, lightning was visible in the sky, flashes of pink and purple and green, but it was unlikely those storms would ever make it this far south tonight.

"This is just going to be a quick trip to take care of some paperwork," answered Ewan. "She'll hardly have a chance to unpack her bags, and then she'll be right back home where she belongs."

Kate sat holding two-year-old Joseph, with four-year-old Aiden pressed up against her side. "I know I'll miss you all to bits," she said, kissing the two tow heads in her arms and reaching for the black-haired boys to kiss as well in a sweet scrum of family.

* * *

The sun was blood-red on the horizon and a hot steam had already risen to greet them as Ewan lifted Kate and a very excited Ella into the buggy. Their bags were already stowed, and there was nothing left except to get in beside them and drive to town. In a burst of emotion, he bought a ticket as far as Houston, but even there he had to let her go.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I'll be back soon," she answered.

 _I hope so_ , he thought as he let go of her and let her get on her train east. Beside her Ella smiled and waved delightedly. The girl had enjoyed being in Texas, but never quite took to it. Kate, however, looked as though pieces of her were being cut out. It would be a month before he could expect her back. He hoped she would be all right.

After a week of travel, Katie Scarlett O'Hara got off a different train in Charleston, her son and daughter behind her. Henry Hamilton guided them toward the cabs that could take them to the hotel where he and Wade had stayed two and a half years before.

Scarlett took a suite with her children while Henry took a room on a different floor, but they ate their supper in the suite.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Henry asked. He'd come to trust the mind of the man she was married to, but as her lawyer he needed to be sure of her mind for his own conscience.

"You and Wade and Ewan have all been through it. Is there any other option? Will they suggest a third possibility that gets everything thrown out?"

"There are proposed changes to laws," said Wade, "but there's nothing they can use that we're aware of."

"Ewan says Caroline's lawsuit is completely without merit. How could her lawyers think it would work?" Scarlett looked from one to the other.

"We don't think the Bells have been completely honest with their lawyers. It's our other hope with you here that they will realize just how mistaken they are about their clients and the situation," Henry said.

Scarlett nodded. "How are we going to do this. Are we all going to their house?"

"No," said Wade. "We've talked it over and we think it's better if she never sees you, at least not until it's necessary. Uncle Henry suggested that you spend the afternoon with Aunt Pauline and Aunt Eulalie. I've already written to them, and they're expecting you and Ella for luncheon."

Scarlett sighed. "All right. I suppose the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can go home."

The next afternoon, as directed, Scarlett told stories of her new life to her aunts while wondering what happened several streets over at the Butler house. Meanwhile Ella sat in the parlor grinning foolishly over being in an actual old guard parlor in an actual genteel city. Half an hour into their visit, someone else came to the door. Scarlett stood and recognized her former mother-in law.

"Scarlett, dear, your aunts told me you would be in town and invited me over."

* * *

Rhett Butler received his surprise visitors in his study. "Wade! Henry! What brings you to Charleston?"

"Do you have any idea what your wife has been up to, Butler?" Henry could look spitting mad when he wanted to.

He took out his cigar case, offered them to his guests, and then lit one. "Scarlett?"

"The other one."

"I try to stay as far away from her as possible."

Wade pulled copies of Caroline's lawsuits out of his satchel. "She's filed suit, one supposedly on your behalf."

Rhett opened the top document and started to read. "Sit down, gentlemen." He waved at the chairs facing the desk. He scanned through the custody suit. "She can't do this."

"We don't believe she can, and have drafted a brief in response."

Rhett read the suit for damages due to lack of consortium and roared with laughter. "I take it you have a response to this as well?"

"A counter-suit."

"May I see them?"

Rhett looked through the brief first. "This reads like McLure speaks."

"He drafted it," said Henry. "He has a fine mind if he does prefer to sit on a horse all day."

"Have you met him?"

"Only through Scarlett's correspondence."

"He's probably what Jefferson had in mind when he wanted us all to be gentlemen farmers. Educated, well-spoken, but tough as nails when necessary."

Wade looked at the ceiling. Uncle Rhett obviously hadn't got to the interesting part, yet.

"Good Lord!"

There it was.

Rhett looked up with a broad smile on his face. "So your position is…"

"Not our preferred position, but definitely one legal interpretation of it. There's also the fact that Scarlett was not in a state of mind to sign legal documents. Doctor Meade and I signed affidavits shortly after the fact."

Rhett sat back. "I never would have imagined Caroline was capable of actually filing lawsuits. I figured she'd try to slip some other poor fellow's child off as mine."

He looked at the countersuit alleging alienation of affection. "Good for Scarlett. I hope she wins this one."

He looked up. "I take it you plan to have this served to my ever-loving parasite?"

"Yes, her lawyers will be receiving them today or tomorrow."

"I'd like to give her a copy of the lawsuit myself," Rhett said with a smirk. "I need to talk to Scarlett about this brief and the other issues. I guess I'll need to get to Texas."

Wade cleared his throat. Rhett looked up with interest.

"She's here? In Charleston?"

Wade nodded. "She wanted to come with us today, but we didn't want her to run into your wife, so she's staying at a hotel and currently visiting with her aunts. If all goes well, we'd just as soon put her back on a train without your wife ever seeing her."

"She's here to stake her claim in case the divorce wasn't valid." Rhett smiled broadly. "Well done, Scarlett."

He stood up. "I would entertain you gentlemen longer, but it appears that I'm long overdue for a visit to my mother's dear friends, the Robillard sisters."

 _A/N: The song citation for this one is U2. I'm kind of surprised it took me 20 chapters to get to them. I nearly went with the Cranberrys this time, but I think I might use their song later. Either way, you get an Irish group this time._

 _Someone mentioned that this story is a bit of a soap opera. I won't deny that. I grew up on soap operas and spent far too many Friday afternoons watching the weekly cliffhanger and screaming, "I could write it better than you!" at the television. Oddly enough, I think one of my college classmates is writing for my favorite soap now. How cool is that?_

 _Thanks to all the readers and reviewers including **gabyhyatt, Tdtd2012, COCO B, kanga85, Pro Ewan and Kat, Sushibear144, KatelovesEwan, Gwtwlover2, Mclure, Rhett hater, Ewans love, littlebittykittyone, jaz7, Phantom710, Truckee Gal, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5, WhitmanFrostFiend, breakfastattiffanygs, Aethelfraed, LibeRATE1511, romabeachgirl, gumper, garnet911, gogomohamad229, Conlyn70, Melody-Rose-20, Another Guest, ****Fan** , and **mega700201.**_


	21. Somewhere Along the Way

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

"…And of course we'll have to have a tea here with all of the ladies of Charleston while you're visiting, Scarlett. Are you sure you can only stay for two weeks?" Pauline, it must be said, was far older than Scarlett remembered, but still as annoying as ever.

"I absolutely must get back to my farm, Aunt Pauline." Scarlett clenched her hands together in order to keep from putting them around her aunt's neck. Setting aside the bad manners involved, Scarlett would quickly be hung for murder if she followed her impulses.

"Surely the men can look after the farm, Scarlett," Aunt Eulalie added.

"I know they can, but there are some aspects that just need a woman's touch, and," Scarlett took out her handkerchief and fluttered her hands expressively, "it's home and I just miss it, _so_."

"There, there, dear, of course you do," said her aunt with a pat to her arm.

"I'm sure you miss your children," said Elizabeth Butler, "but you should have brought them with you."

"Well, you see," said Scarlett, "The whole reason I'm here is an unpleasantness concerning the children, and I'm hoping in this brief visit to resolve that and perhaps come east again. It was suggested that Ella might have a season in Charleston."

Everyone looked at the young lady sitting quietly to the side. Her hair was a gingery blonde, but of the sort that became unmanageable in the humidity of a coastal town. She had it up in a snug upsweep, but enough of it had come free to form a slight red-gold cloud around her head. It was the most interesting thing about her. Her face didn't often warrant a second look unless she was very excited in some way, either happily or angrily. Then one realized that her almond shaped eyes were very much like her mother's. Her mother never saw it, of course, because Ella rarely showed any excitement around her mother. She had learned early to stay quiet in Mother's presence. Right now with her lips closed and her eyes cast properly down, she was the essence of young Southern femininity.

"Ella will have her season in Charleston," said a voice from the doorway.

"Uncle Rhett!" said the girl, speaking for the first time in half an hour. She jumped up and ran to him but stopped short of throwing herself into his arms for a hug as she did in childhood. Remembering the older ladies in the room, she stopped as was proper and let him kiss her hand.

Rhett, meanwhile, never quite stopped looking at Scarlett, even as he greeted the older ladies first, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek. "Mrs. McLure, I was quite surprised and delighted to learn that you were in our fair city. I trust your business here will be transacted successfully." He sat carelessly on a chair close to the settee where she was wedged between her aunts. Ella sat back down in her chair, but now with new interest in her face. Anyone who looked at her now would be drawn into the second look that just a few minutes before seemed pointless.

"I do hope you're right, Captain Butler, but you and the other gentlemen will surely know more about it than me."

The innocent look of helplessness that she gave him was so put on that he laughed. "I believe you are in a far position to win the day, and you may rest assured that the gentlemen are handling things well." He turned to Aunt Pauline. "Have you met Mr. McLure? He's quite a good lawyer when he can be forced into it, and a fine horseman, as well."

Pauline frowned. "We understand that Mr. McLure stayed in Texas."

"And Rhett, she didn't bring the children," said his mother.

"I'm glad she did not," he replied. "It would have made quite a few things very complicated. There will be future visits, now that things are in the open," he reassured her.

Elizabeth was only partially mollified. "I would like to meet those boys," she said.

"I don't doubt that you will, mother," Rhett said soothingly. "I agree with Scarlett—er, Mrs. McLure—that now is not the right time. More importantly, we should be discussing Ella's season. She's coming out in Texas in just a few months if I'm correct?"

Ella smiled and nodded. "Yes, Uncle Rhett. Just before Christmas in Galveston, and then in Houston until the last ball back in Galveston again."

"Surely there's a way for her to come out in Charleston next year," he said to the older ladies in the room.

"She does have connections in the city," said Eulalie, looking at her sister.

"And she's such a darling thing," said Pauline, at which Ella beamed with delight.

"Of course, it will be up to some of your wife's friends to get her into the St. Cecelia," said Elizabeth, looking at Rhett.

The ladies started assessing who to contact and what might be done during this visit. Scarlett leaned back in her seat and tried to stretch her legs under the coffee table. She'd been sitting still far too long, but she was hoping her aunts wouldn't realize about the baby. Surely people wouldn't assume anything about the baby, but the less said on the subject, the better for her battle against Caroline.

"Mrs. McLure?" Rhett's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Captain Butler. Were you speaking to me?"

"I was suggesting that you might still be tired from your travel. May I escort you back to your hotel?"

"I—"

"Don't worry, Scarlett, Ella will be in good hands," said Pauline.

Eulalie added, "We just need to chat with her a bit more and discuss our plans. Oh, won't this be fun!"

Scarlett found herself hustled out the door quickly after that, her hand within Rhett's arm. Despite having wanted to stand up for some time, the quickness of it all didn't give her body time to catch up and she swayed a little on the porch.

"Whoa!" Rhett put his arm around her. "Are you all right, there?"

"Of course I'm all right. I just stood up faster than I was prepared for."

"Is it the baby?" He'd spent several months wondering and worrying about her state. With his arm around her, he could feel that she was pregnant.

"I suppose, but only because it's so much work to do anything, even sit still, and this whole time the old busybodies have been telling me what I should have done and all the ways I've ruined things." Her voice became petulant. "I'm already tired of this town."

Rhett's voice was soothing. "Let's go this way," Rhett suggested, leading her into an alley between lots. "I'd rather not go past my house."

"Why? Is your wife home?"

"I have no idea." He pulled her hand through his elbow. "Scarlett, we need to talk about a subject that one of us might find disagreeable and the other might find difficult. Let's chat amiably for a few minutes until we get to where we can talk privately."

"What do you want to discuss?"

"How was your trip? Did you stop anywhere interesting?"

"No, I came straight from Houston, one train to the next the entire way."

"You should be exhausted, then. Why did you rush?"

"I'm hoping if I can just get this over with, I can go home, where the sun shines and the cotton grows, and I'm with the people who love me."

"There are people who love you, here. You really didn't need to rush."

"Ewan said that I need to come and get it done hopefully before anyone realizes about the baby."

"Does he think it would make a difference?"

She bit her lip and looked up at him. "If people knew… it would be a disaster if the child was born and then obviously yours, or even if people knew about last spring and wondered…" She looked away. "God's nightgown," she muttered.

"They think it hurts your case if the child is obviously mine?"

"Ewan thinks it would look like we've been… lovers… for a long time."

He nodded slowly. "And then you couldn't claim I treated you like a prostitute?"

"It's ridiculous," she said. "Anyone from Atlanta could tell them that I'm just one woman among many to you. You told me yourself."

He stopped walking. "When would I ever do that?"

"When—" She thought fast. She was giving far more in this conversation than he was, but there was never a good way to twist it back. She'd already committed herself to this though— "when I told you I was going to lock my bedroom door."

He just looked at her. He vaguely remembered that night, but apparently she took what he said to heart. "And you assumed I was out with other women?"

"Weren't you?"

"And that if I was, it was because you didn't matter to me?"

"Did I?"

He didn't answer. In fact, he was quite quiet, and she stared at him. This attempt at conversation had taken a difficult turn, so maybe they should find something else.

They started walking again before he said anything. "How are the twins?"

"Angry that I didn't bring them with me."

"It would have been nice if you could have brought them. Mother is dying to meet them... and spoil them, no doubt."

"Ewan said if I brought them, your—Charles Bell might try some way to get the court to keep them here."

McLure wasn't wrong. "Another time then. What have they been doing?"

"You mean, besides digging up half their gardens to see if the seeds have sprouted or chasing the chickens when they should be feeding them?" Scarlett sighed. "Jerry figured out how to shimmy up the columns on the front porch. He pushed Langston up and then followed him. Three days before I left, we came home from the fields to find them sitting on the porch roof, so proud of themselves. Olivia was panicking in the house because she knew she should have them but had no idea where they were."

Rhett chuckled. They _were_ certain to be hellions by the time they were grown. "Caroline would be begging you to take them back if she had them."

"She's not getting the chance as long as there's breath in my body."

They arrived at a cemetery. Rhett led her in and sat her down on a bench under a dogwood tree. It was quiet and empty of people, so they could speak confidentially, but it was a very exposed place so they wouldn't court scandal.

"Why are we here?"

"Your lawyer, who is also your-McLure, made a very bold suggestion in his brief, Scarlett."

"That's why I'm in Charleston, so that your wife thinks I will step right back into being your wife if I can."

"What do you think? Do you consider yourself still married to me?"

She looked up at him. He was staring at her as if he was hoping she would say something in particular, like he always looked at her when she caught a glimpse before he changed his expression. She knew if she had ever figured out what he wanted years ago, they would all still be in Atlanta.

She didn't realize that her face was a tortured mix of what-ifs and could-have-beens. It was impossible not to want her life to have stayed that way all along, but there was no way to reclaim what was from what their lives had become. When he saw the wishes in her eyes, he had the slightest bit of hope.

"Fiddle dee dee, Rhett, what kind of question is that?"

"It's the most important question that could ever be asked between us."

"I would give anything to have been the wife you could have kept loving Rhett, _now_ , after I realized everything I'd done wrong. But to try to go back now? I can't leave my husband and our children."

"Not even to keep the two that are _our_ children?"

"That's so like you." She tried to stand up.

He pulled her back down. "What do you mean by that?"

"You let me get into a crisis, sometimes helping it along, and then you swoop in to save me, except you don't, quite. You just leave me to have to make some impossible choice as you abandon me."

"Scarlett, this time I'm not going to abandon you. I'm thinking very hard about letting them say the divorce was invalid. I had you completely drunk and distraught when you signed those papers, after all, and as McLure so helpfully pointed out, I was under duress as well."

"And then we're both bigamists."

"Only inadvertently. If we immediately file to declare our other marriages null, there shouldn't be a penalty."

"Legally."

He didn't answer that. Her eyes narrowed at him, pale green in the bright sunlight, daring him to suggest that no one would be hurt.

Finally, he sighed. "Yes, we would have to resolve many things, but what if that was the only way to keep the boys with you?"

Scarlett thought of her new Tara in Texas, of the ripening fields, the smiles of all the people who lived there, the friendships she'd made with the other farmers that were so hard-fought because she was a woman, the smell of the prairie, and the man who'd helped her put her life together. She would have to give all of that up and more for the boys if she had to. She would become a shell of herself, but her children would be safe.

"Yes," she said, "If it was the only way… I would do it."

He watched the play of her face as she thought of her home and loved ones. It was not unlike the day he'd asked her to give up her childish dreams to have a life with him. It was a richer expression than the one in the past. She knew the reality of what she was giving up this time. He was willing to take the same gamble as before. She eventually learned to love him that time. The moment in her bed last spring had proved that she had not completely stopped loving him even now. Yes, he would throw his chips into the ante.

"Then, my dear, it's time to plan your re-entry to the world as Mrs. Scarlett Butler."

She started to puff up, and he put his finger over her lips. He pulled her close and soothed her as he did when she was younger. "Hush, my darling. I don't know for sure that we will have to do this or that I will be able to do this until after Caroline has spoken to her father and I have spoken to her and some other people." _Like Rosemary._

"I brought you to this particular place for a reason," he said. They stood up, and he pointed to the tombstone in front of them. "Langston Rhett Butler, Born c 1765, Died 1840."

"Your grandfather?" she asked. He admired that man, as she recalled.

"Look at the stone beside him," he answered.

It said, "Katherine Kelet Butler, Born C1783, Died 1835"

"My name is Katie, or Kate."

"It's so similar, though."

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"I just find it interesting."

"It's not like you to be... well, it's almost superstitious, Rhett."

He frowned at her in consternation. They walked back out of the cemetery, and into the hotel. When they got to Scarlett's suite, Wade was sitting at the table in the sitting room of their suite, writing and paging through a file.

"Mrs. Butler has the documents," he said.

"Did you see her?" asked Rhett.

"No, but the lawyer we're working with assures us that his clerk put them in her hands." He looked at his mother and put his files into his valise that was sitting under the table. "Uncle Henry is leaving tomorrow, and I'll have to leave in a couple of days."

"What if I need to… how do I…"

Wade handed his mother a card. "This is the local lawyer we're working with, and I'll be here for another day or two."

Rhett looked at the name on the card. "They're good, Scarlett. They'll take care of you and they know the judges here, if it comes to that."

"You can send a telegram to Uncle Ewan, too, Mother. Uncle Henry has court later this week. I have to be back to help him."

Scarlett looked at her grown up son. "I guess I can't keep you, then." She smiled up at him.

Wade leaned down and hugged his mother, kissing her cheek. "I love you, Mother. One way or another, you won't lose this case."

"Winning may feel like losing, though," she whispered.

He hugged her one last time and then left to have dinner with Henry.

The door barely closed when Rhett's arms came around her. "At last," he whispered into her ear.

She pulled at his arms, "Rhett, really!"

His hold loosened, but his hands stayed around her middle. "That's the baby, isn't it?"

"I—"

The child started moving when he pulled her so close to himself. Now he slid one hand above the baby bump, holding her close as the other traced the motions he could feel under her skirt. He patted and rubbed soothingly until the child stopped moving. He turned her slightly so that the hand on her belly could tip her chin up.

It wasn't like the kisses that made her dizzy. This one was gentle but still demanding. The hand that was holding her under her raised waistline now slid to where it could cup her breast. Her eyelids fluttered and she twisted away. "Rhett!"

She couldn't get completely away and he pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes still closed and a soft smile on his lips. "Sweet," he breathed out. He swallowed hard and stepped back away from her, turning his face away. "You're right, Mrs…" He turned back to stare at her. Who was she today, and who would she be in a month? He smiled his lazy, knowing smile… "Scarlett. You're right. It's not the time yet."

He'd wait until more cards were on the table.

 _A/N: The song related to this chapter was written by Kurt Adams and Sammy Gallop. The version with which I'm familiar was sung by Nat King Cole._

 _Are we reading all the other stories out there and reviewing in the hopes of getting more? I've seen a couple of things pop up when I sort by recently updated which is really exciting. I've seen some guesses about the mysterious Michael in the reviews for a new story. Wouldn't it be a hoot if his surname started with S? Then there would be two stories with a mysterious MS!_

 _Thank you to all the readers and reviewers whom I've met along the way, including **COCO B, gabyhyatt, Melody-Rose-20, kanga85, Truckee Gal, KatelovesEwan, Gwtwlover2, breakfastattiffanygs, romabeachgirl, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 , Melanie Wilkes, Mammy, Leafhuntress, ****mega700201,** and **whoknows3.**_


	22. Musette's Walz

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Captain Butler arrived at dinner at his house after the first course had been served, but before it had been taken up. The maid brought him a plate after he sat down and he started eating while his wife and father-in-law looked at him with eyes full of guilty awareness. He smiled to himself but forced his face to be bland.

"Have I interrupted something?"

The Bells exchanged glances, and then Caroline straightened her shoulders and said, "That O'Hara woman, your—"

"I assume you're referring to my ex-wife?"

"Yes, her. She's filed a lawsuit against me in Atlanta."

"Has she?"

"She claims that I interfered in your marriage to her and that she is due damages from it."

"Isn't that what happened? You and your father interfered in Scarlett's and my marriage and we were forced to end it." He went back to his plate. "You should probably settle with her and pay the damages."

Caroline huffed. "But she was well paid for your divorce, and besides, it's because of her that you won't…"

" _I_ paid for the divorce, but you haven't paid a dime for your sins against my first marriage. She's got smart lawyers, and you probably do owe her. If you don't want to pay, then go ahead with the suit. Atlanta cools down a little during the fall. It's still a little rough and new, but it's not a bad city. You might even like it."

"That's your advice?"

"It would appear that your options are to settle or fight in court. What do you expect me to do? Tell her to stop?"

Caroline looked at him, pleadingly. "Could you?"

"Now why would I do that? It's nothing to do with me, and besides, it's good theater."

It was time for the dinner courses to change. Caroline and her father stared at each other while the servants were in the room. Caroline looked at her plate when the servants were gone.

Rhett couldn't resist needling her. "Is that all that's going on in town today? You seemed deep in conversation."

 _He knows_ , realized Caroline. "What else could possibly be happening in town today, Rhett?" She very nonchalantly asked, "What have you been doing today?" He rarely answered her when she asked that question, but sometimes he did.

Rhett cut his chicken very deliberately. "I visited with some acquaintances from out of town. They came on business. None of it directly affects me, at least not at the moment, but I believe quite a bit of it affects you, Caroline." His cat-that-ate-the-canary smile told her everything, as he intended.

Caroline's eyes narrowed. "You _do_ know all about it."

"Your legal troubles? Of course." He calmly ate his potatoes. "I have in my possession copies of both of your suits as well as the brief and suit prepared by Mrs. McLure's lawyers… unless she's really Mrs. Butler as the brief suggests." He allowed himself to smirk again at her discomfort.

"If you knew all along, why toy with me Rhett? Why not tell me straight out what your plans are? Are you going to help her or help me?"

"It's not a case of helping anyone, but rather making the best decisions for everyone involved. I think you need to drop both of your suits, Mrs. Butler… or is it Miss Bell?"

"Those boys should be here, Rhett!" She tapped her fingertip on the tabletop. "They're your sons born during our marriage. They should be mine."

"You're not going to get them. They belong where they are, and the reason they exist at all is related to your schemes. Didn't your lawyers explain the brief?"

Caroline looked at her father and then nodded to Rhett.

"Well, then, surely you know me well enough by now to understand that if I wanted the twins in Charleston, they would be here. Let me be very clear, Caroline… and to you, too, Charles. If it becomes necessary, I will agree with Scarlett's lawyers that the divorce was invalid and move to Texas to be with her and our children. I'm also fairly certain that if you drop the consortium suit, she will drop the alienation one."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"I've discussed it with Scarlett and her lawyers. She's here in Charleston."

"No!" whispered Caroline.

"Absolutely. She's here to step back into her role as Mrs. Butler if it should be decided that we aren't divorced after all. I believe they're working with a judge in Texas to postpone the suit there about custody until that issue is resolved in Georgia. Mr. McLure is a well-liked local member of the Texas Bar. He's pretty sure the judge will see the merit of the delay."

Caroline sighed with relief. "You've only met with the lawyers. She's not…"

"I assure you, Caroline, that although I have met with her lawyers, in this very house this morning, I spent most of the afternoon with my ex-wife, or current wife, as the case may be. A delightful woman, when she chooses to be."

Caroline had to purse her lips to keep from spitting in her rage. "You're a hateful man!"

"Indeed."

Caroline looked to her father, begging him with her eyes to do something.

"If the marriage is declared invalid, I'll have to publish those pictures," said Charles.

Rhett sighed. "Yes, and it's too bad, but in the light of everything else people say you've done, Charles, they're not as likely to cause scandal as in the past." Rhett pushed his plate away and lit a cigar. "I have half a mind to let the divorce be invalid anyway, truth be told. Of course, this marriage has never been valid, either."

Charles knew it was true, but he also knew a thing or two about the man Rosemary Butler had married a few years ago. He smiled. There may yet be a way out of this. Caroline saw the look on her father's face and sighed in relief. Daddy could fix anything. Rhett saw the look on Charles' face and smiled blandly. There would be some form of hell to pay, but Rhett would make sure it hurt himself and his loved ones less than it hurt Caroline or her father.

* * *

Rhett tapped on Scarlett's door late the next night.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling her wrapper more tightly around herself.

He tossed his hat on the table and sat on a sofa. "The night manager is a childhood friend. No one saw me come in and no one will see me leave."

She watched him make himself at home. She shut and locked the door and then went back to pulling the wrapper more tightly around herself. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Caroline and her father have dug in. They claim they want to see this thing through. We're going to have to spend every minute of the day together for a while."

Scarlett stood next to the window and waved at the moonlight. "It's not the day, Rhett. You can go home and pick me up tomorrow."

"Or I could publicly stay here, and walk you down to breakfast in the morning."

She felt herself puffing up. "Or you can go to Halifax." Her green eyes sparkled as they narrowed. He sat and enjoyed the sight. "Rhett, I can't have you staying in my room."

"I'll stay in Wade's bed. No one needs to know that we're not lovers."

"No one needs to think that we _are_."

"Your husband sent you here to protect those boys, didn't he? Didn't I see a telegram on the table that says 'Do what you have to do?'"

"He didn't mean _that_ , and if you were so eager to snoop then you know there's another telegram that says, 'Come home soon.'"

"Come, now, pet—"

"I'm not your pet!" She lowered her voice. "I'm not your wife or your mistress or your whore or your para—parasomething. You can't walk in here and expect me to suddenly be your wife, after that divorce and your remarriage and God knows how many women…"

She was regretting her decision to lock the door and now tried to unlock it. In her haste and anger she dropped the key. Before she could bend over to pick it up, Rhett was there. He picked up the key and then looked closely into her face, grabbing her chin when she tried to look away. She was looking pale and there were dark circles under her eyes.

"Have you been sleeping?"

She shook him off. "I get some rest."

"You're having nightmares."

"Maybe it's from having to answer the door when ex-husbands knock." He stared into her eyes until she pushed his hand away. "It's not so bad."

"Scarlett, you need your rest. You're in the middle of this legal situation and you're five months pregnant."

"What does it matter to you?"

"Do I need to remind you?" He reached to touch her stomach, but she stepped back.

"If you care so much, make that woman drop her suit."

"She will drop her suit, but it will take time, Scarlett. It's going to take both of us working together to get that suit dropped. In the meanwhile, I need you to look your best as we are seen all over town together."

"I'll be fine. I just need some peace and quiet." She looked pointedly at the door.

"Let's get you to bed then," he said with a smug look on his face.

Scarlett turned and walked toward her bedroom, only then noticing the bag he'd brought with him. She turned and glared at him. "Why are you here, Rhett?"

"You ask as if I hadn't told you years ago that I prefer a well-run hotel to a house."

She folded her arms. "I'm sure there are plenty of rooms available in this hotel."

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I told Charles and Caroline that you're in town, and I didn't like the look in Charles' eye."

"You think he wants to hurt me?"

"I think he wants to do several things to you. I don't want to find out what any of them are."

"And you're worried about me?"

"A woman who carted an invalid, a newborn, a servant, and her toddler son for a day and a half through two armies? Of course not. Charles should be worried." He glanced at her middle. "All the same, I'd rather spare us the trouble."

She shook her head and shrugged at the same time. "Fine. Wade's been using that room there. Good _night._ "

"Better than it was," he said with charm to her back as she disappeared into the main bedroom.

He was there when the nightmares hit her, soothing her back to sleep before placing a chaste kiss on her forehead and going back to his own bed. He slipped out and returned later in the morning. He was with her when she hunched over a basin the next morning, dry heaving. Her complexion, if anything, was worse than the day before.

"How am I going to show you around Charleston if you're in this condition?" he asked himself.

"Oh, Rhett, just let me lie here in agony. Someday it will end."

He ordered breakfast and then walked Ella to his mother's house. The girl would go calling with his mother today, meeting various ladies in town as a relative of the Butler family, which was true enough in its way. If they could avoid tying Ella to the scandal of the divorce and custody lawsuits or anything to do with her own mother, the St. Cecelia committee members were liable to adore her.

Rhett's plans for Scarlett were to be seen in various places that were visible to society but not part of it, but he needed her healthy. On the way back to the hotel, he picked up his buggy. Hopefully Scarlett was feeling well enough to ride with him.

They started at the Battery park, where he helped her out of the buggy and walked with her to take in the views of the rivers. The sunshine and fresh air put a little color in her face, and he decided that they could visit some shops in town.

She would need another dress. All of the ones she brought were with the aim to conceal her growing figure, but in another week or two it would be impossible to wear them. She should have at least one dress that did nothing to hide the glow of her motherhood. If all else failed, he would make sure Caroline saw her that way. Perhaps the sight of her rival in full bloom would convince Caroline if she couldn't be convinced otherwise.

There were also gifts to get for the boys. In some ways Texas was another country with its own customs, and there were many toys and other items that were different. Now that everything was out in the open, Rhett intended to spoil his own children, and Scarlett's others as well.

Everywhere he went, Rhett referred to his ex-wife by her given name and acted quite attentively. No one could doubt that they had a very close relationship as he handed her into the buggy and out of it. He took advantage of the opportunity to kiss her hand or cheek and show other signs of endearment. Scarlett looked daggers at him but accepted it all.

"You've been quite congenial today," Rhett observed as they made their way back to the hotel.

"Was I not supposed to act the part?" she replied.

"You gave every appearance of being my happily married wife, my dear."

"And you looked like butter wouldn't melt in your mouth," she responded. "If they all only knew."

"Many of them did know, and many will wonder. You will be discussed in quite a few drawing rooms tomorrow. We'll need to think of an outing that will keep you and Ella out of the public eye for a day. I'll have to have dinner tomorrow at home to see what Caroline thinks of it all."

He stopped the buggy and left it with the hotel attendants before helping Scarlett out and guiding her up into the hotel. "Let's have dinner upstairs. You go up now and get a relaxing bath while I get Ella, and then we can have a relaxing evening."

She woke him in the middle of the night again. He soothed her back to sleep as he had the night before, but she clung to him this time. He very carefully got onto the bed, over the covers, and held her.

 _"Musette's Waltz" is from Puccini's La Boheme. I've always loved the tune. It makes me homesick for Italy, although I've never left North America. The words and music have been incorporated into songs in Rent, as well._

 _Thank you to the readers and reviewers including **Melody-Rose-20, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6, Moon FireStar, samandfreddie, Aethelfraed, Truckee Gal, romabeachgirl, kanga85, gabyhyatt, Conlyn70, Gwtwlover2, KatelovesEwan, Mammy, Melanie Wilkes, mega700201, ****Tdtd2012,** and **SnailVenom**_


	23. Sunday Table

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

The next morning, Scarlett wasn't sick and instead ate an enormous breakfast. She watched Rhett and Ella at the table, cheerfully chatting about what Ella had done so far in Charleston and what Rhett thought she should do. There was an easy friendship between the two of them that didn't exist between Ella and Ewan. Scarlett had always known that. Perhaps it was the fact that Rhett had been part of the girl's life since before she was born. Ella got along with Ewan, but she never treated him as openly as she did Rhett.

After breakfast, Rhett took Scarlett and Ella on a sailboat and they went up the river to his family's plantation. As she sat and felt the baby move within her, Scarlett sensed that the baby loved sailing. Scarlett wasn't sure how she knew that, just that sometimes when the baby moved it seemed cheerful while at other times it definitely was not. Scarlett sat where Rhett told her to sit and held her hand over the moving baby, whose kicks and punches felt cheerful or even happy. Today was a day of contentment, and she wouldn't let the lawsuits back in Charleston affect her.

Scarlett spent a delighted morning walking around the Butler plantation, which Rhett had paid to start planting again. She exclaimed over the things that were very different between rice and cotton as well as the things that were very much the same. She was fascinated by the fact that the fields were kept under a layer of water as the plants grew. Rice took a lot of water to grow, and keeping the base of the plants covered with water prevented most weeds and some other forms of pests as well.

"Why didn't we ever come here before?" she asked Rhett as they enjoyed a picnic under a live oak tree.

He shrugged. "What do I want with a farm?"

She looked at him, shocked. "To make money, of course."

"This plantation has half gone back to the river and will never again make money. It's a dratted expense."

"Neither of my Taras made money at first either, but now they do. In Clayton County the fields for food and feed are back to what they were before the war, and Will's almost planted what my father had in cotton this summer. I'm more than half way to that in Texas."

"But you love it. I don't. I don't care for farming, or farms, or any of the dratted, money-sinking mess."

" _I_ came with a farm. There was a time when you wanted me," she pointed out.

"You loved Atlanta."

Scarlett shook her head. "I went to Atlanta to save Tara, and then I had to stay there. I lost Tara while I saved it."

He looked at her teasingly. "All the balls and parties and those new people you loved so much were in Atlanta."

She frowned. She loved Tara and being on the farm, didn't she? But then, she had enjoyed the advantages of being in town. Which was it? Which did she prefer? Her Tara in Texas was just about perfect with Ewan, even if they only got to one ball in town and a couple of county gatherings in any given year. She looked up at the man beside her and bit her lip. Would Tara have been enough with Rhett there? Why hadn't she been happy in Atlanta?

Ashley, of course, was part of the answer. If she was honest with herself, Ashley was a large part of the answer. She'd been such a fool to constantly long for him when happiness was just a few steps away. She had refused happiness. She didn't want to be happy without Ashley, so she never enjoyed the parties and the balls and dancing as much as she might have.

She realized that Rhett had moved closer to her. His hand was over the child, feeling it move. There was a look of tenderness in his face that was unfamiliar to her in their past. Ella was off picking flowers, so she let him be for a few minutes.

Why did she let him do it? The child was nothing to him—probably. Yet she had this instinct that it was just the right thing to do to allow such a liberty. He was always so good about her children, even those who weren't his. He had missed all of this with the boys, and a part of her felt guilty about that. Another part of her finally pulled away from him in annoyance. Whose fault was it that he missed it before?

Rhett flashed her his nasty grin and suggested that it was time to go back to town. He brought them back to the Battery for dinner with his mother, who gave him a significant look before she sent him on his way.

* * *

"As you supposed, there was a great deal of gossip today."

"Anything good?"

"They're still making up their minds about you, but they seem to have made a few decisions about your wives, past and present."

Rhett chuckled. His mother's tone of voice was clear. He hurried to his own table, assured that if nothing else, Caroline would provide him with good theater that night.

"Who were you with yesterday?" Caroline had seen them from a distance, and was sure she knew, but she wondered if he would admit it.

Rhett waited until the plates were set in front of them and the maid had withdrawn. "I was with the very charming Mrs. Ewan McLure… unless it turns out she's actually Mrs. Rhett Butler."

"I suppose you were with her today, too… the whore."

Rhett set his fork down and said very calmly and quietly. "I would call out a man who used that word about her. Do not think I will excuse it from you."

"She's fatter than I expected."

"She's absolutely perfect, Caroline." He had as much of his salad as he wanted and set his fork down. "Have you had a chance to consider your options?"

"What options?"

"You need to drop both of your lawsuits. You have no standing to place the first one, as the court will surely determine, and if you go through with the second one, Scarlett will surely go through with hers. I can assure you that since I'm regularly seen going into brothels, you'll lose your suit while hers may just win. I'd be the star witness for the plaintiff, of course."

"Piffle. Those children should be mine, and I'm only filing that suit on your behalf."

"Then on my behalf you can stop. I have all the access to my sons that I could want. More than I take advantage of, so far, but there are years yet."

"I have no intention of dropping either suit. She seduced you and took children from you when you were promised to me."

"Hm," he said. "If anyone seduced either of us that night, I seduced her. I had to get her pretty drunk to sign the divorce paperwork, and after that we simply let nature take it's course. On the other hand, we come to her lawsuit against you. You stole what was rightfully hers."

The servants came in to change the courses. Rhett looked on in annoyance as they brushed some crumbs from the table cloth. There was no reason not to wait until after they were finished, but they never did. Eventually, all was as they servants intended and they slipped out.

"What did I steal?" asked Caroline. "Everyone with the slightest acquaintance in Atlanta knows you'd had separate bedrooms for years, and you'd spent most of the year in Charleston."

"And yet I managed to get her pregnant twice while we supposedly had separate bedrooms, Caroline. You and I have separate bedrooms, too, I might point out."

"Don't remind me."

"Don't be bitter. You have your marriage that you demanded your father get for you, and this is simply how that marriage will proceed."

"It's not a proper marriage."

"We reached a point in things where your father has something I want and I have something your father wants and this is as far as it goes until something happens to change it. I have no desire to make our marriage more than what it is, and you have no way to force me. That is nothing to what we are dealing with in the lawsuits. You need to withdraw them."

"I have no intention of doing so."

"Do you have any idea what the consequences of your actions will be?"

"I will not stop my lawsuits. I deserve my rights!"

"So be it," he said.

* * *

Scarlett sat at the table in her suite and listened as Rhett explained what Caroline told him. It confirmed what Elizabeth and Scarlett's aunts said over dinner. Everyone had seen them in town the day before, although no one of importance had been close enough to actually see her. There had been quite a bit of discussion about it behind the Butlers' backs. They had all come to ask Caroline about it, and she had pretended it was a distant relation.

"Distant relation indeed," one of the Burr cousins to the Hamiltons had told Pauline, _in greatest confidence_. "There were enough displays of affection to indicate _close_ relations, certainly."

Caroline had been humiliated, but she was intransigent. Rhett was her husband, and she was determined to be the mother of his children. She certainly didn't plan to step aside to allow any ex-wives to take her place.

Scarlett turned dark pink as they discussed it. "They all think that if I'm not myself, then I must be your latest… paid woman," she finished in a whisper.

Rhett reached across the table and kissed her fingers. "You are the most expensive woman I've ever had, Scarlett," he observed.

She started to puff up like an angry cat, and he chuckled. "Don't be offended, my dear. A wife should be more precious than rubies after all. Your value to me far outweighs what I spent on you all these years."

"Don't," she started, annoyed.

"Please my dear," he answered, kissing the hand he still held. "I wanted you to know that you're far more valuable than she is to me."

"She can't have my children."

"You know it won't come to that."

"How do we prevent it?"

"Scarlett, if it comes to it, we will ask the court to decide that you and I are still married."

She looked at him. "And then what?"

"And then we'll go to Texas to be with our boys."

She looked at him then, curious about what that meant. What would that mean about Ewan?

* * *

She came fully awake in the dark of night. She knew exactly what that meant about Ewan. Some muscle memory had her walking into the parlor of the suite, looking for brandy. The baby moved, which was enough of a reminder that she never took spirits any more and only rarely a little wine with dinner.

Rhett heard her and joined her. "Are you all right, Scarlett?"

"I woke up out of a sound sleep. I guess all of this upheaval doesn't agree with me."

"I imagine it would disturb the sturdiest of constitutions. Why don't we see if we can get you back to bed?"

He walked her into her room and sat at the headboard while cuddling her close to his side. It reminded her of the old days, when he and she were first married.

"Tell me a story, Rhett."

She went back to sleep among the ocean waves and zephyrs of his privateering days.

* * *

They spent time going all over Charleston while Ella visited drawing rooms, first with the Robillard sisters and then with Elizabeth Butler. Rhett schemed with his mother in great satisfaction. It seemed that the St. Cecelia plan was coming through, although it would still be questionable until Caroline or her friend Margaret were backing Ella. Somehow he had to get Caroline to sponsor the girl, but that would have to come after getting the lawsuits dropped.

He sat in the parlor of Scarlett's suite and watched her write her letters and notes. She had several ledgers that she went over every night. He didn't think she needed to add every column over and over as she did. It was clearly a way of calming her nerves by now.

Rhett watched her smile every day when she saw the telegram that McLure sent her, and her eyes twinkled merrily over the responses as well. The shine quickly wore off. McLure's love sustained Scarlett, but there was a lot to fight against, and Rhett didn't want to guess just how bleak the situation looked to her.

* * *

Rhett stayed in the suite every night. When Scarlett had nightmares, he was there to soothe her, and when she was ill, he was there with a cool washcloth to comfort her and help her clean up. She was sure she was grateful, but she spent quite a bit of time wondering what he intended to get for his investment.

He didn't ask for anything in return, although when they were alone he would frequently put his hand over her stomach. She still wasn't sure why she allowed it, but it felt as though he was promising to protect her children. She accepted the gesture as such.

After she had been in Charleston for a week, Scarlett and Rhett went to see the lawyer that Wade and Henry suggested. His name was Lawrence Ebett Williford ("everyone calls me Ebbie"), and he was all that Scarlett was used to in a Harvard-trained southern lawyer, knowledgeable and gallant, but somewhat condescending.

They went over all three of the suits and the brief and Ebbie explained that Scarlett was in the right on every point. Sometime Caroline would have to back off, and if she didn't, Scarlett was sure to triumph in court. Scarlett could see all of that, but she knew that if it went to court, even if it ended quickly, there would be terrible scandal.

The boys barely understood what parentage even meant. Although everyone in town with eyes could see the truth of the situation, the boys were still somewhat protected by their youthful innocence. Once it was in court it would be talked about, and then the boys would have to face the consequences of the adults' actions. Scarlett would almost rather do anything than have that.

She tugged Rhett into her bedroom that night. "It doesn't look like we'll have any other choice," she said, feeling shy. "If we're going to be married again, I don't want it to be like before. If it comes to that, Rhett, I should be your wife in all the ways that matter."

He looked in her eyes. She was a little sad… she was making sacrifices after all. The love in her eyes was more for their children than for him. If she could make the effort, so could he. He kissed her head near the temple and said, "We don't have to rush this, dear, but if it would help you sleep better, I will stay near you."

Yet he wasn't a man to look a gift horse in the mouth, and he still wanted her more than he'd ever wanted any woman. When it came down to it, his biggest concern was how quickly to remove her clothing, but something wasn't right about it when she acted as though it was a last resort. He didn't want to give her enough time to change her mind, but neither did he want to rush and ruin the moment.

He decided to bide his time. Again, he held her close and told her stories as she drifted off to sleep. She smiled so sweetly to him and relaxed in his arms. He fell asleep knowing he had her full trust, for once.

 _A/N: Sunday Table is a song performed by Pink Martini._

 _I'd like to give a shout out to a yahoo group called gwtwfanfic_archive. They have some delightful conversations going over there._

 _Thanks as always to the lovely readers and reviewers here, including **gabyhyatt, mega700201, kanga85, Gwtwlover2, Guest 1 & 2 & 3, Aethelfraed, breakfastattiffanygs, COCO B, Truckee Gal, sanjyp, romabeachgirl, ****TwistedType** , and **Helen888**. _


	24. What You Won't Do for Love

Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns.

Caroline Bell Butler was getting dressed and having her hair done when she heard her husband come whistling up the stairs. If she thought back, she'd realize that he'd been whistling after the trip to Atlanta that culminated in her engagement. She'd never heard it again until this past spring, when he'd cheerfully greeted her and she realized that he had shared a bed with the O'Hara woman. His visits to the houses of professional women usually just reduced the amount of sarcasm he used on her. There was only one reason for him to whistle this morning. Her lip twisted as she heard him greet one of the maids.

"Good Morning, Captain Butler."

"It is a lovely morning, Marie-Josephine, is it not?"

"Is there anything I can do for you sir?"

"Polaski is getting my water. He'll help me shave and dress. My needs are covered."

"Very well, sir."

"There might be something."

"Yes, Captain?"

"You know the old McKinnon house cross lots from here?"

"Yes, sir."

"I have need of some staff for that house for a few days. Can you come over and help me?"

"Mrs. Butler will be left high and dry."

"The Mrs. Butler I have in mind will appreciate your help, Marie-Joesphine. She doesn't need very much help getting dressed. She's not out in company much these days. We don't want much kitchen staff, just someone to arrange meals purchased elsewhere, two ladies' maids to take care of my guests, and perhaps a couple of people to clean."

"I may know a few people looking for a few days' work, Captain Butler."

"Excellent."

Caroline heard him hum the rest of the way to his room. She thought it might be that old ditty, "Lorena."

* * *

Caroline found Rhett in his study an hour later. He was paging through a file with a smile on his face. If anything, the look on his face was more pleased with himself than she'd ever seen him.

"It's happened again, hasn't it?"

"To what would you be referring?"

"Relations, between you and the O'Hara woman."

"Actually, no," he said with a smirk. "Although if you insist on your course of action, it will happen eventually and permanently."

"If I have the boys in my custody, how would that result in your being with her?"

"You haven't been paying attention at all, have you?" Rhett unlocked a desk drawer and pulled out a file, which he paged through and then pointed a section at her. "Did your father or your lawyer ever bother to point this out?"

She read the paragraph he pointed to. It outlined reasons to believe the divorce wasn't valid and subsequent conclusion that the twins' parents were still married and therefore there was no custody issue. If the judge agreed with that line of reasoning, Caroline would have nothing.

"This can't be true," she whispered.

"It's true, Miss Bell—as you might be. If push comes to shove, Scarlett will have to pursue this line of defense against you, which will nullify both of your lawsuits. In fact, I think it might be time to file this other particular document, which will make the process go faster."

Caroline tilted her head and read "… to declare null the marriage of Rhett K. Butler and Caroline. L. Bell."

"No!"

"I don't see any reason to pretend, Caroline."

"Father will publish those pictures!"

"Your father is no idiot. He somehow knew that I feel a greater need to take care of my sister than my first—perhaps only—wife. He may not have considered that there are people more dear to me than my sister. He should have realized that my need to take care of my children is more important than my sister's reputation. If you pursue this, Caroline, I'm leaving the marriage and leaving Charleston. I'll go back to the wife I really want and our children."

"You can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because it will ruin your reputation!"

"I'm a divorcé who frequents whorehouses in order to avoid my current—or perhaps supposed—wife. I've been a privateer, a gun runner, a speculator on the war… what possible reputation could I lose?"

"Well, then, because it will hurt your sister!"

"It's a shame, really, but she's married now and maybe can take the hit to her own reputation if it protects the children."

"Well—because!"

He grinned, knowing he'd won his point. "I'm afraid this is the deal, Caroline: If you don't withdraw your lawsuits by the end of the week, I'm going to file this document to end our marriage, such as it is."

"And if I do withdraw the lawsuits?"

"Scarlett will withdraw her suit, and everything will go right back to what we have had all along."

She was left trembling. He couldn't. He just couldn't. _She_ was his wife. They were married and she loved him. She would have to forget children, though. Could she do that? She had hoped to share his bed and have his children. It became obvious quickly that he refused to do that. Now her best hope was to become a mother to his children and hope that he would share her bed because of it. He was taking that away, too. Could she give up having all of him and be content with the little bit of him she had?

* * *

She pondered it hours later at Margaret's house. Daddy had been no help at all. He had argued with the lawyer, who shrugged and pointed out that the Bells hadn't been completely honest about the situation with Rhett. If he'd known how the marriage had happened and what the state of the marriage was as well as how Rhett and the O'Hara woman's marriage had ended, he wouldn't have filed the suits on the Bells' behalf. It had been an enormous waste of time and money, in the lawyer's opinion.

Caro sat on the couch and stared out Margaret's front window without seeing anything, as Margo tried to chatter about various things. Everyone in town was whispering about the woman Rhett was squiring around town. They were all speculating about who she might be. She was a small thing but rather solid around her middle. Her hair was tucked demurely under her bonnet, although most people had the impression it was dark. No one had gotten close enough to see her eyes except the dressmakers and bonnet sellers, who each had large fees on the line if they said a word about the mysterious woman. Captain Butler's wife was stingy, but it was worth staying on the right side of Captain Butler himself.

Did Captain Butler have a mistress? Margo had tried to get the answer to that, and everyone was sure that Caroline Butler knew all about it, but she wasn't saying a word. Elizabeth Butler never spoke of her eldest son, although anyone could see she was devoted to him, and Rosemary was in Columbia with her husband, who was in the General Assembly.

Instead of discussing Rhett Butler, Margo was going on about a girl named Ella Kennedy, who was visiting relatives in town. She was the great-niece of the Robillard sisters, whose married names were long since forgotten, and she seemed to have the full backing of Mrs. Elizabeth Butler as well. There was talk of her being presented at the St. Cecelia in a year and a half. Caro absently admitted she had no idea who the girl was.

Caro's eyes were caught by a buggy pulling up across the street. She knew that buggy well, having selected the fabric for the cushions herself. The man driving the horse turned her heart as he always did. She watched as he stopped the horses and turned the reins over to a young man who came around the house as they arrived.

Rhett walked around the carriage and lifted his hands. As Caroline watched, another occupant was swung down, one of his hand holding her hand and the other at her waist. They walked up the steps of the front porch and Rhett pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

Caroline felt numb. She swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "Say, Margo, is that the McKinnon house across the street?"

"Yes. It's been vacant for years. They lost it because of taxes right after the war. Someone bought it and had it fixed up. It's even fully furnished, to judge by the deliveries they had a few years back, but no one lives there. It gets cleaned a few times a year and that's it."

Margo looked out the window. She recognized the man, but wouldn't embarrass her friend by mentioning him by name. "There's that woman again. She's been all over town."

Rhett turned the woman and waved his hand expressively in front of them, with a genuine smile on his face. He must be describing the neighborhood. The couple stood and acted toward each other with complete familiarity. They tilted their faces toward each other and smiled. At least Rhett's smile was broader and there was a hint of a smile visible on the woman's face too. She was shadowed by her deep bonnet. Caroline got a good look at her shape. "She's quite fat, don't you think?"

Margaret looked out the window. "Actually, I'd say she's quite pregnant, Caro, although not ready to give birth for a few months. She must be five or six months gone. I wonder why a man would take up with a woman so obviously pregnant."

There was a knife in Caroline's soul that had been driven there on her wedding night and never really left. It twisted yet again as she considered the fact that Rhett had been in Texas from the middle of February until well into April. It was just past the middle of August. Rhett's hand was at the small of the woman's back as they turned and entered the house.

Caroline searched her mind for a way to change the subject. Margo had been talking about something a few minutes ago. Ah… the Kennedy girl. A tangential connection to what was before Caroline's eyes occurred to her. "So that girl that's been all over town is related to the Robillard family and also has a connection to the Butlers?"

"So it would seem. She's quite pretty, and they say she does a curtsy that has to be seen to be believed. Mrs. Anderson says she would be quite an addition to next years debutantes…"

* * *

Rhett led Scarlett all around the house he'd purchased with her in mind so many years before. It was like a dream come true to see her in the parlor. He felt a certain warmth go through him as he watched her walk through the room.

"Just as I always imagined," he murmured.

"Is that my chaise from Atlanta?" She looked up at him. "The one you hated?"

"I wanted you to be happy here."

Tears pricked at her eyes as she saw other familiar pieces. The entire dining room set was the one from Peachtree Street. In answer to the question on her face, he said, "It fit in both size and color here better than it would have in Galveston, so I brought it here and bought a similar set for there."

The study had her desk from Kennedy's store. "I had quite a fight with Hugh Elsing about it, but eventually Wade of all people told him to give it to me. After all the store is still yours."

"This was intended to be _my_ study, then."

"This whole house was for you."

"Rhett…"

"Let me show you the upstairs."

Pieces she had wondered about… dressers and wardrobes and end tables… they were all here in this house. Yet somehow she could tell there was a more classic taste to it. The old Altanta furniture, placed piecemeal through the house that was mostly furnished with simpler items, took on a new glow and artfulness.

"It's really beautiful," she said.

They came to what had to be the master bedroom, and suddenly she wanted to go downstairs. "Is there time for a walk in the park before supper?" she asked.

Rhett took her hand and led her to the door. "Don't be afraid, my dear."

He opened the door and pulled her to the threshold. It was just as she expected. There was only one room in the Peachtree Street house that was exactly as he wished, and she'd had a suspicion as she'd walked through this house. There was nothing in the Galveston house from this room, and now she could see that every item from Rhett's old room was here.

She turned away from it, from the tall dresser where she'd carefully put his gathered up shirt studs only to sweep them off in distressed rage hours later to the washstand from which she'd swept the ewer and basin, to the bed—

"I can't," she whispered.

"It's just furniture, honey," he said softly. He took both of her hands in his and backed carefully into the room.

"You don't understand. You didn't see what I did after you left… I _hate_ this room and everything about it."

"How can you say that?"

"That last night… everything that happened there was a _lie_. I never went back in that room again."

"I wasn't lying, and we made the twins on that bed, Scarlett. How can you hate that?"

"I went to sleep on that bed knowing you loved me, knowing that we were back together. When I woke up, you were gone and then the papers were filed. This was the room where my life changed forever."

She turned and went down the stairs. As Rhett's wife watched with her best friend, Scarlett walked as quickly down the street as her condition would let her, eventually stopping and grasping the rails of a wrought-iron fence for support as she caught her breath. A moment later, she walked more carefully down toward the park.

* * *

Rhett didn't know what to make of his ex-wife as he followed her down the street toward the Battery proper. The night before, she had offered herself to him, but in the same way she had in that jail after the war. She didn't want him, she didn't love him, he was her last resort.

 _He asked her about it at breakfast, trying not to let on to Ella what they were discussion. "Why did you make me that offer last night?"_

 _She had looked out the window. "You used to say I wasn't honorable, that I went back on my agreements. If we're supposedly still... well, I want to fulfill all the terms of the agreement." She frowned at her grits. "I owe you that much."_

 _"We don't know that we're married yet," he said, surprising himself. "I can wait until we know for sure."_

 _She looked at him in surprise. "I thought you wanted…"_

 _He swore under his breath. It was his turn to look out the window. "I do, but not like this, Scarlett. I had you when you were in love with someone else before."_

 _"Oh." She became quite thoughtful and wouldn't meet his gaze. She brightened as a bell hop brought the daily telegram to her. This one said, "Courage, my love." Rhett had seen the one receipt from the one she sent yesterday that said, "I'm not sure I can do this."_

 _She took a deep breath and smiled at Rhett. All morning she treated him as she had during their best moments during war, flirtatious and cheerful. Best of all, it was as though Ashley Wilkes had never existed._

 _At moments, he almost believed that Ewan McLure never existed. He knew it was put on. She would look so sad and then realize he was looking. She would immediately sit up and brighten her expression. He loved her for the effort, but he couldn't accept it, not at this point. He would wait for the situation to develop and hope for better things._

* * *

 _A/N: The song this time was written by Alfons Kettner and Bobby Caldwell. Bobby Caldwell performed it._

 _Thanks to the authors writing new stories and continuing others. It's so wonderful to have new things to read and think about!_

 _Thanks so very much to the readers and reviewers still out there, including **gabyhyatt, Aethelfraed, kanga85, KatelovesEwan, Rhettlover2, Gwtwlover2, COCO B, whoknows3, Truckee Gal, breakfastattiffanygs, Romabeachgirl, Melody-Rose-20,** **mega700201,** and **Guest.**_


	25. Put a Lid on It

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Scarlett sat on a bench and watched boats go up and down the rivers. A sailboat similar to the one Rhett used drifted by, containing a merry group, headed to an outing or perhaps coming back.

"Are you all right, ma'am?"

Scarlett held her hand to extend the overhang of the bonnet she was wearing. The person speaking was blonde-haired and blue-eyed and quite pretty. "I'm quite fine, thank you," she replied.

"I couldn't help noticing that you walked down the street in some distress. I see that you're in an _interesting_ condition."

"I'm fine now. I just need to rest for a little longer and I'll be quite able to go on my way." She turned back to face the water, hoping it would end the conversation.

The blonde sat down. "Are you from Charleston?"

Scarlett clenched her fists in her skirt. "No, ma'am, I'm not from here. In fact, I'm simply here to transact some business. I'll be on the next train out as soon as that's done."

"Is your husband with you?"

"I hope not," muttered Scarlett under her breath.

"I beg your pardon?"

"My husband has never been to Charleston," she answered. "He stayed home with our children, except for this one, but we telegraph each other every day. He'll be happy for me to get back home."

"I see," answered the other woman. "I wonder—isn't he unhappy that you had to travel in your condition? Surely he's anxious that no harm come to the new addition to your family?"

Scarlett felt herself puffing up. Whatever gave this woman the idea that she could ask such questions? She bit the inside of her lip and thought a moment. Her primary concern was to get rid of the lawsuits and go back to Texas with her life intact, but the secondary purpose was Ella. If the girl was hoping to get a good marriage and life somewhere in the Carolinas or Georgia, Scarlett would have to keep from making a scene.

She thought of Ewan and forced herself to smile. "My husband adores all of our children. He's a good father and is eager for this one as well. Nevertheless, this business came up, and I had to deal with it, so here I am, hoping it will be completed soon.

"Have you other family in this town? I don't believe I've seen you in any drawing rooms."

"I do have some distant relatives. Are we not all related here in the South?"

"I suppose that's true." The blonde made a chuckling noise without mirth. "May I inquire about the nature of your business, Mrs…?"

"It's a personal family matter and I'd much rather not." Scarlett turned her head and glared out from under her bonnet. Why couldn't this woman take a hint and leave?

"It's all so very interesting," mused the woman who wouldn't go away. "I have nothing at home to keep me busy these days. My husband has had a visitor from out of town for a couple of weeks. He hasn't told me when his guest will be leaving."

Scarlett started to get an inkling of her interlocutor's identity. "I'm sure you would love to have that business done with and have your home to yourself. No matter how delightful company is, it's always pleasant when they leave, is it not?"

"You're certainly right about that, and I'm sure it's pleasant to go back to wherever one comes from as well," answered the other woman, who got up. "If you're sure you're not in any distress, I'll take my leave of you."

"I'm quite fine, thank you," said Scarlett.

"I'd invite you to come back soon, as a gracious Charlestonian would, but you don't want to come back, do you?"

"I'd rather not, but thank you for the sentiment just the same," she responded.

Caroline walked back up to Margaret's house.

"Who was she?" asked Margo.

"She's no one, just a woman traveling through for a short time," answered Caro, who had a thing or two to think about.

* * *

"So this is where I'm to be kept."

Rhett lifted his gaze from the table in the parlor and saw that she had returned. "Kept?"

"I was to be your kept woman, was I not? This was where you intended to keep me."

"This was where you and I together would have thumbed our noses at polite society. I intended to build a family with you, here."

"A family?"

He stood next to her. "The twins are mine. Since you've had Aiden and Joseph, I can only assume there would have been more." He placed his hand over the new baby. "This one might be—"

"Don't say it!"

"Very well." He stood up and moved close to her. "You're still young enough that there might be another one or two as well. But not as my kept woman, Scarlett. If we pursue it, we might be husband and wife. I swear to make a good life for you and all of your children."

"You know that most likely this one is Ewan's, too. What if this one looks just like Aiden and Joseph, and we all know it probably will. What would you want in that case?"

"I suppose your noble Texan has said he would raise the child as his no matter what it looks like."

"He already has with the twins."

"You didn't give me the chance, Scarlett."

"You didn't give either of us the chance, Rhett. You left me and separated yourself from me in every possible way. What on earth was I to do?"

"You must have known you could contact me through my mother."

"You know I couldn't do that. I couldn't even do that when I was pregnant and we were married!"

He looked out the front window. "Did I really make everything so difficult? Didn't you make things difficult, too?"

He looked at her for a few minutes. Finally she broke eye contact and looked out the window, herself.

"Is there no other way to protect the boys?"

"It's still possible that she will drop the lawsuits."

"What must I do to make that happen?"

"Do?"

"You never give without expecting something in return. How can I pay you, what can I give you for you to make her do that? Is there anything I can trade for the life I've made myself and my children?"

He took out a handkerchief and dabbed at the tears on her face and then handed it to her to blow her nose. "You're all teary."

"It's as though I'm leaking. I dare say I'm leaking from other places at the moment, too. Tell me, Rhett." She was not to be shifted to a different conversation. "Cash on the barrel-head, as you told me in Texas, Captain Butler. What is your price?"

"I don't think there's anything, Scarlett, outside of what you've done by responding to her suits and coming here to stake your claim."

She bit her lip and looked up. "I swear, Rhett, that if it comes to it, I'll be everything you want from your wife."

He gave her a grim smirk. "You know I never go to my wife's bedroom."

"I wouldn't keep you out of mine, not any more. I know that…"

"I won't force myself on you, Scarlett."

"I didn't say that you would. I do know that you feel a certain way, and I will probably want to—" She broke off in embarrassment.

His mustache twitched as he regarded her and she squirmed. "May I interest you in dinner?" he asked deferentially. "I wanted you to experience this house as the home we might have here."

"Didn't you say we'd go to Texas if it turned out that you and I were married?"

"Indeed I did, but when we visit my mother, we could stay here."

Scarlett took a full turn around the room and then looked ruefully at him. "I think we should just go back to the hotel," she answered.

* * *

Scarlett endured the rest of the week, wondering if her odd interview with her ex-husband's wife would make a difference. She said nothing to him of meeting her at the park. Scarlett never planned to set eyes on the woman again and was just as happy not to think of Mrs. Rhett Butler any more than need be. There weren't enough tomorrows to put that off.

Instead, she concentrated on making sure Ella enjoyed her stay. She listened to the girl speak of the various people she visited, and making small comments about comportment. There weren't many comments to make, Scarlett knew well that the girl was more attentive to her training than Scarlett had been.

Rhett was attentive and sweet in ways that evoked memories Scarlett couldn't quite place. The closest she could fit it to was when she was pregnant with Bonnie, but it wasn't quite the same. Always in the past, there were sarcastic and caustic reminders that she was a disappointment, that she could never be good enough for him. There was none of that, now. She wasn't sure what was different, but she was happy enough that it was.

Scarlett didn't realize how much of the difference was due to her own behavior. She allowed a certain amount of affection from Rhett, feeling that it wasn't inappropriate if it turned out they were married, and returning in kind to the extent that didn't make her long for Ewan. Sometimes she woke in the night, wishing for her husband so much her chest hurt. Rhett was sleeping on the bed, not touching her but close enough to soothe her when she had a nightmare.

Rhett wondered at the difference, himself. He had always thought that the part of Scarlett that was closed off from himself was because she was saving it for Ashley Wilkes. Yet although he knew that McLure firmly had a piece of her heart Rhett could never touch, Scarlett was open in a way he'd never before seen in their lives.

It was not what Rhett was expecting, this new Scarlett, who know how to love and be loved. Once again, he was thrown on his heels by the realization that what he always assumed about her was false. He had to admit to himself that the attitude that had often thrown him into a murderous rage wasn't that she had been so tied up in her Ashley. It was that she didn't know how to love at all. Would it have been enough for him if this openness of hers had been available back then? If he could have found a way to unlock her heart, as he had to admit McLure had done, could he have possibly gone farther still and taken even the part that had belonged to the other man? If given the opportunity, was that something he might do now?

* * *

"Rhett, you can't let those pictures be published."

He looked at Rosemary in their mother's parlor. She was tearful and trembling. "They can't possibly hurt you."

"Your father-in-law has been all over Columbia. He has _something_ on Clayton, and you know Clay hopes to run for Governor in a few years."

Rhett grunted in exasperation. "Everyone with a few dollars to spare knows your husband's aspirations," he said.

"Charles Bell told Clay that he will ruin him, I don't know with what, and then he showed Clay the pictures. Clay says if the pictures come out, he'll have to divorce me."

"And what of Scarlett?"

"She'll be all right. You've always said nothing keeps her down."

"What about your nephews? Do you understand what would happen to them if that family gets their hands on them?"

"How bad could it be if you're here as their father, Rhett? Mother is here, too, and you know she misses them. Scarlett should never have kept them away from us."

Rhett puffed on his cigar for several minutes, glaring at his sister. "Your life with that slimy politician is more important than my happiness?"

"Oh, Rhett, what does your marriage matter? Everyone knows you'll just go off with other women anyway. Clay says the Democrats are finally able to do something, after all those years of Yankees and Republicans. It needs to be fixed. How can Clay do that if he's mired in scandal?"

How indeed. It seemed, then, that Rhett and any aspirations he might have had for happiness in his life were disposable. He revised that thought. It wasn't so with Scarlett. Of everyone he knew, she was at least aware of a sense of obligation. She wasn't in position to give him what he wanted, but she was willing to square whatever accounts were between them.

Rhett darkened his own doorstep on Thursday afternoon. His wife was in the parlor, working on some endless bit of handwork that would no doubt be forced upon some unsuspecting beneficiary of the local charities. Scarlett had always descried the foolishness of making such items, which were never quite what was wanted. Yet there was no way around it. Ridiculous items of useless clothing must be made, and the unfortunate must be forced to accept them.

Caroline wasn't actively working on her little shirt of whatever that thing was. She was staring out the window. Her attention shifted when she saw Rhett enter. "She has no interest in you."

Rhett would not be coy. He knew what Caroline was talking about. "Just the slightest, as one would a person they were required to meet from time to time. How did you come upon your knowledge?"

"I just did, Rhett, but I _know_ what I know. Did you actually… have relations with her?"

"Obviously. We've had children together."

"I mean last winter and spring."

"I never said that I did. You made the assumption."

"So it must be her husband's child," she mused under her breath. The item in Caroline's hands was twisted and starting to look mutilated. She set it aside and looked up with watery blue eyes. "I expected children from our marriage."

"If you had told me that before we got married, I would have told you it would be impossible. Given the way we were contracted together, I will never be able to look upon you in the necessary manner."

Caroline took a deep breath and heaved out the accompanying sigh. "That's why I want the boys, Rhett. I really expected to have children."

"It's not going to happen, Caroline. The boys will not be taken from their mother. If you insist upon it, I'll have to insist that we've never been married, and then a great many bad things will happen. Four little boys will be torn from the father they've known from their respective births, my sister will be divorced, and my brother-in-law will never be the governor of South Carolina. I'm willing to sacrifice a great many things, but not the children."

"And I'll be left in the cold."

"I'm sure your father has a little money, but not very much, and the scandal will follow you to Timbuktu. You'll be very much colder than you are now in several ways."

"You'll be mired in scandal as well."

Rhett chuckled. "You know that scandal doesn't trouble me, and where I'll be with my family, it's fashionable to be a little scandalous."

Caroline sighed again. "So my choices are to drop the cases immediately and keep things the way they've been between us…"

"… or lose your status as my wife and all of the reputation in Charleston that you have," answered Rhett.

 _A/N: "Put a Lid on It" is from a North Carolina band called Squirrel Nut Zippers. Their female lead singer has this amazing Billy Holiday sort of sound. It's not a group for everyone. I love their sound which hits a sweet spot between ragtime and swing, but some of the songs are really dark._

 _I had no intention of Scarlett and Caroline meeting up, but a moment became available, and here were are._

 _Thanks to the readers and reviewers out there, including **kanga85, gabyhyatt, COCO B, Truckee Gal, samandfreddie, Guest 1 & 2, WhitmanFrostFiend, Aethelfraed, Tdtd2012, Phantom710, Melody-Rose-20, ****romabeachgirl,** and **whoknows3.**_


	26. I Can't Make You Love Me

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Caroline carefully read over the lawsuits. Father's lawyers had been quite angry with Father when the O'Hara woman's responses had come. They claimed that there were clearly facts that Charles and Caroline had not admitted. Two weeks ago, when the documents had first arrived, Caroline didn't think there was a problem. The lawyers would rant, but ultimately they would do what Caroline needed. After the last two conversations with Rhett, Caroline had gone to the lawyers herself.

She now knew what she ought to do, and she knew what she wanted to happen. It was time to realize that she would not get everything she wanted from the situation. She should have realized years ago that Rhett would never love her, and if she had, she might have found a better option for these past eight years. Caroline was forty-one years old, and it was time to learn how to make the best of it.

Charles came to visit. "They tell me the wench is in town and heavily pregnant. If we keep her here until it's born, maybe it's Butler's."

"Are you saying you hope that Rhett cheated on me with her?"

"He's cheated on you with half the fancy women in town, hasn't he?" Charles smirked in a rather dirty way. "Working his way through the other half?"

"He's more fastidious than that."

"It doesn't matter who the child looks like, Caro. If it's Butler's, you can try to claim it, but if it's not, you try to claim it anyway on the basis of their relationship, and perhaps trade for the twins."

"That won't work, Daddy."

"And why not?"

"Anything we do to try to get the boys will result in Rhett annulling his marriage to me. He won't let me have his children."

Charles waved his hand. "That's no trouble at all, I've been to Columbia and had a long talk with our future Governor. Butler loves his sister too much to hurt her."

"Not when it comes to the children," Caroline replied.

"Doesn't matter who's involved," Charles said belligerently.

Caroline looked closely into her father's eyes. "Have you been drinking, Daddy? Rhett told me clear as day that the children are more important than anything. My choice is to force his hand and make everyone unhappy or drop the lawsuits and we continue as we were."

"Let's not be hasty, Caro. There may be other ways to handle this." Charles paced in the parlor for several minutes. "You were obviously a better choice as a wife for him, so you'd be a better choice as a mother for his children, too."

"That's not how Rhett sees it," she observed. "Really, Daddy, I'm starting to think we just need to pack that woman up and get her out of town as quickly as possible. People are talking about her, and so far, no one knows who she is or why Rhett is spending so much time with her, but as soon as they put it together…"

Charles actually took a few minutes to think through what she said. "Well there must be something. Let's think it through."

* * *

Scarlett was eating less and less again. She had dreamt of being home within a month of leaving, but that dream was slipping away. She didn't know what to make of her conversation with Rhett's wife. It had been all Scarlett could do to avoid tearing at the woman's hair as she questioned Scarlett so personally, but Caroline Butler was the only one who could send Scarlett home.

Looking at Rhett across the table, she wondered if this was her life, now. Ella had gone to Atlanta. Wade would see her back to Houston in time for the school year to start. Scarlett pondered the lovely time she and Wade should have had, going over the various ledgers for the Hamilton properties and then the Kennedy properties. If she left tomorrow, they might have a chance to do that, but Wade would need to be in Cambridge in just a few weeks. Scarlett sighed.

No matter, surely they'd be able to do it at Christmas if not in a week. There was no need to worry or change anything anyway. If he changed his mind about being a lawyer, Wade would have a nice income to fall back upon from the lots he owned and the warehouses on them. Ella, meanwhile, would not go penniless to any marriage she contracted, and Wade was smart enough to tie the store up such that Ella's future husband, whoever he might be, wouldn't be able to sell it out from under her.

"Honey, what's the matter?" Rhett was looking from his plate to hers with a teasing smile on his face.

"Nothing, really," she answered. "I just guess I'm not very hungry."

"Are you worried about Caroline?"

"I like my life the way it is."

"I won't let it change if I can help it."

"Having to be separate from Ewan will be a big change, and what will that mean for Aiden and Joseph?"

"Would they be any worse off than Wade and Ella?"

Scarlett felt everything around her go blank for just a moment. "I thought—I hoped—I really thought I would never be that kind of mother again."

"You're a fine mother, Scarlett."

"No better than a cat, you said."

He sighed. How was it that this woman, who thought Shakespeare was a hunting tool until reminded of the Bard's literary works, had an encyclopedic memory of every word that had passed Rhett Butler's lips? "I was wrong to say that."

She lifted her head up and looked at him. "I don't understand…"

"You were never affectionate or giving of your heart, Scarlett. You were a child yourself when Wade was born. Yet, you always looked out for your children's needs, working so hard. That was part of why you had nothing left for them in your heart. Why couldn't you give all of that hard work up when we married?"

 _Why indeed_. "I don't know, now. It all seems so useless anyway."

"I wanted you to play more, to enjoy the life you worked so hard to get, the life I worked hard to give you. Neither of us needed to have a care in the world if we didn't want it."

"Is that what we'll be again? Are you asking me to give up the farm?"

"Wouldn't it be awkward with McLure tending his horses?"

Her stomach gave a lurch and she nodded. "What do you suggest, then?"

He outlined the plan that had been in his mind since he became aware of the lawsuits and McLure's brief. "We go to Galveston and live in my house there. There is plenty of room for all of the children. If you like, we can travel. There are so many places I always wanted to take you."

Scarlett's heart sank as she listened to him. "You think we're going to have to end our current marriages."

"I'm not positive how it will go," he said. The hotel staff came for the dinner dishes, so Rhett walked her over to the sofa.

"I'm sorry, Rhett… you know how I feel about everything… I'll try to be… I mean to be honorable in this situation, at least." The room was quickly set to rights and the last maid left the room at a nod from Rhett.

He put his arm around her to console her. "Scarlett, I know you can't change in an instant. We will take our time, and travel might help us. It's why I suggested it."

Scarlett wiped her eyes. "It's not that I don't love you."

"You've been pretty clear about how you do feel, my dear." He pressed his lips to her head, near her temple.

They sat that way for quite a while. Rhett's lips never quite left the side of her face. Whether it was one long kiss or a series of smaller kisses, it wasn't entirely clear. At some point, the child moved, and both their hands went to her middle to follow it. Scarlett tilted her head toward him just a bit, and the hand around her shoulders tipped her head further so that he could kiss her.

They both got a little lost in that kiss, allowing for a release of tensions and worries. Then Scarlett remembered where she was and withdrew a bit. Rhett kept kissing her, however, and she allowed it, wishing for other things and yet wanting to fulfill her side if this was how it was to be.

Rhett lost himself in her, kissing her lips, tasting her as though he was starving. He wanted to taste all of her, feel all of her, become part of her. She was not his, but neither was it the soulless embrace he transacted in the houses where such engagements were also business transactions. She was willing, if not completely eager, and accepting even if she wouldn't take all he had to offer her.

A quarter hour left them breathing hard, his head resting on her breasts, firmer than he remembered, caressing them through her dress. He knew that she wouldn't refuse him. She would likely even find some pleasure in the act. Yet he also knew she would give up a piece of herself in the process. She never lost it when she was with him before, because she'd never known what it was to love fully and be loved in return. Now, however, it would be tarnished if not broken.

If they were to be husband and wife again, would that not belong to him? Couldn't he afford to wait until she was ready, less tortured by the situation? He probably could. He loved her enough to hope that she could come to him wholeheartedly. But if the lawsuits were dropped, this might be his only chance. He could have one last sip from the glass and then send her on her way. Let the cowboy mend her.

His hand strayed to where the child had become quite active. What sort of mother would the child have? For some reason, he was convinced the baby would be fully Bonnie's little sister. It had been his fondest wish from the instant he realized the baby existed. With that belief, he'd woken up in the middle of the night to caress her and whisper his love to her as Scarlett slept. His daughter needed the mother Bonnie never quite had, because Rhett had withheld Bonnie and her mother from each other.

He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. What sort of mother did he want for this child, assuming it was as he wished? Scarlet lay against his arm, her eyes closed and her whole body accepting. She would allow this, and she would never again be the same woman. He pictured her gathering all the men around her at Twelve Oaks and how she'd grown into a woman who gathered her sons around her at her new Tara. He recalled her riding, both in an elegant habit for show in Atlanta as well as galloping along her fields in Texas. He recalled her flirting with customers at her lumber mills and Houston businessmen. All of that would be gone. What would be left? Someone like that perennially angry and waspish Suellen? Someone like that half-deceased Careen? He'd never met Ellen O'Hara, but he'd never quite been able to square stories of her with stories of Ellen Robillard that still circulated Charleston.

He lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom.

She gasped. "You won't leave me again, will you?"

He sat down on the bed with her in his lap. "What do you mean?"

"If you're so sure that this is how it's to be, you'll stay with me this time, won't you? You won't leave me when you're angry or fed up…?"

He turned his face away.

She tilted his head toward her. "If I'm to give up everything to be with you, will I at least have you, or will be the way it was in Atlanta? Will you be pleasant, or will you be nasty all the time?"

It was a valid question, he had to admit. He sat her on the bed facing away from him. "I think we should put off this conversation. In any case, you're half asleep, I think."

He unfastened her dress and left her. There was a bottle of brandy in the room, and he would take some. Not as much as he would have at one time in his life, but enough to ease his longing.

He wasn't entirely sure what Caro would do. She ought, just based upon her best option from many terrible ones she'd dealt herself, to drop the lawsuits and let the children go. However, she'd never done what she ought to do. She shouldn't have ever chased him. She was just bullheaded enough to gamble everything on some crazy scheme, and her father was stubborn enough to encourage her. If Caroline was that big a fool, Rhett wouldn't have to wait long for Scarlett. He sipped his glass slowly and told himself he could wait, although a part of him suspected there was some noble urge in his body after all.

* * *

Scarlett didn't know what to think. That woman in the park had acted as though she just wanted Scarlett to leave. Was she, perhaps _not_ Caroline Butler? The way she spoke, and the questions she asked only made sense if she was Rhett's wife. Scarlett changed into her nightgown and got into bed. She tossed and turned, dozing for a few moments at a time. Eventually she felt Rhett's presence on the bed as he lay down and not too much later started lightly snoring.

Her nightmares seemed to span her whole life, from the hunger and pain caused by the war to her greatest fears of losing her children now. Melly taunted her by kissing Ashley full on the lips, Belle Watling hugged Rhett in an intimate embrace, and worst of all Ewan never looked at her. She kept running to face him, and he kept turning away.

Finally she woke up. Streaks of pink shone across the lightening sky. She needed to be violently ill. As the bile turned to dry heaves, she recalled that she hadn't eaten enough the day before. She sat on the floor of the bath room as the tears came. She couldn't prevent them. She was too tired.

Rhett woke to full dawn, feeling a little worse for wear but rested. Scarlett wasn't in the bed, but he could hear her in the bathroom. He went in and saw her distress. Dampening a cloth, he cleaned off her face and then carried her back to the bed, where he propped her up with pillows.

"Have you been having nightmares again?"

She nodded. "I miss him so much."

"This won't last forever. I'll see about getting you some tea."

She nodded, so he rang for assistance. Half an hour later a light breakfast came up. A letter for Rhett was sitting on the tray. He read it through, and then read it more carefully to make sure he understood every nuance and bit of subtext. Finally he set it aside a, nd turned to her. She was halfheartedly eating small bites of a piece of toast, such small bites that would make Mammy proud. Without thinking of what any of it meant to himself, he smiled kindly to her. She gave him a tremulous smile in return.

"Pack up, Katie, it's time for you to go home."

 _A/N: Today's song was written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin, and performed by Bonnie Raitt among others._

 _Quite a few writers and reviewers have made me love them, including **Melody-Rose-20, lescarlett, gabyhyatt, Phantom710, kanga85, Aethelfraed, breakfastattiffanygs, whoknows3, samandfreddie, Truckee Gal, romabeachgirl, mega700201, COCO B, Guest 1 & 2 & 3,** and **Conlyn70.**_


	27. Change Partners

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Charleston, SC, September 1882

Caroline Butler went down to breakfast and found her husband there ahead of her, sipping his coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Are you home, then?"

"Yes."

"Everyone says the woman you've been spending time with disappeared weeks ago."

"She went home."

"And you disappeared around the same time. I told Margo you were away on business?"

"You weren't wrong. I had something to look after. It took me west, and now I'm home."

As if such a place could ever truly be home.

* * *

 _"_ _Pack up, Katie, it's time for you to go home."_

 _"_ _Katie?"_

 _"_ _It appears you are going to remain married to your noble cowboy."_

 _Damn him for that streak of nobility that refused to take advantage of their situation. Sure he had started to. He had crossed a few lines that no gentleman would have, but when it came to taking everything he wanted, he simply hadn't._

 _The look on her face was almost worth it. She was prettier than when he'd given her the fabric that matched the bonnet during the war. Young Scarlett had looked so sweet, belying the fact that she wore the dress maliciously. Every woman in town was wearing turned and mended dresses, but Scarlett reigned supreme in that gown that had matched her eyes perfectly. Rhett had taken advantage of it, dancing with her at parties and drawing her into dark corners where her nearness had driven him nearly mad._

 _He was used to taking advantage of any situation that presented itself to him. It was what he did, after all. It wasn't as though anyone in his life ever cared enough to help him in any way. Even when he was a supposedly much-adored son in one of Charleston's finest families he was forced to make his own opportunities, and whenever he did, his father punished him for them._

 _He was therefore quite surprised with himself when he watched his ex-wife sleep in the hotel or even on the train, aching to take her into his arms without touching her. She trusted him. Believing her case lost unless they took the option that would destroy all but the boys, she had told him that she would accept his advances if he made them. Fortunately or unfortunately, willing was not the same as eager, and he wasn't sure he wanted to go down that road with her again._

 _Perhaps that was the problem. He was used to taking advantage, but he knew from past experience that taking what was in front of him wouldn't be to his advantage. She would be willing but not eager and she would lose something of herself. He would become bitter, she would become distant and nervous, and then the bickering would start. After that it would be steady decay until it ended up killing someone._

 _Rhett watched Scarlett sleep on the train, sometimes in the berth of their private compartment and sometimes on the seat. Sometimes she slumped against him. He would put an arm around her to support her, but he never made a further advance than that._

 _In between time, Rhett made sure there was always tea and some sort off toast or biscuit readily available. Scarlett was exhausted and needed sleep most of all, but an empty stomach was also her worst enemy. As the trains wound through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, she slowly perked up, becoming better rested and less wan. By the time they reached Texas, there was a certain bloom in her cheeks and a glow in her eyes that he hadn't seen since they last danced in Galveston._

 _She was dozing as they pulled into Houston's rail depot. The porter suggested that they wait until the crowd of second and third class passengers died down, and Rhett agreed, seeing that Scarlett was fast asleep._

* * *

"When is the child due?"

Startled out of his memory, he glared at her. "From what I understand of the process, it depends upon the child."

"You know what child I mean, Rhett. Is it yours?"

"If you want a child so badly, you could adopt one. There's an orphanage in town full to the brim. I'm not sure a child could be happy in this home, but perhaps it's better than the orphanage."

"While you have children with her?"

"My name and support will not be offered to your child, but I wouldn't stand in your way and this house has enough room for such a thing."

"You would rather have children with another man's wife than your own wife?"

"She was my wife until you interfered. Filled with far too much charm and passion for life to be possible and yet she is. Her children are enchanting. The children she and I share are bold and passionate, too"

He looked up. "I would give anything for that child to be mine, but the chances are very small. The child is due between the middle of November and the middle of December. I'm going back to Texas around that time, so if I'm a father again, I won't miss the first five years again."

Caroline thought of Margo's last lie-in, when as her best friend she'd been forced to attend her every day. Margo thought nothing of feeding her newborn in front of Caro, and one afternoon Margo's husband walked in. He'd kissed Margo's forehead and then leaned down to kiss his son before exchanging a look with Margo that was loving and just a little naughty. Caroline had gone completely green with envy. Would Rhett share such moments with the O'Hara woman? She thought of the little girl who died and realized he probably already had.

"When will you be back?" she heard herself saying.

"That depends upon you, Mrs. Butler."

She looked at him, a question upon her face.

"You see, my dear home-wrecker, when you forced me to end my first marriage, you also destroyed my relationship with my step-children. The girl I raised almost since before she was born is coming out this winter, and I won't be escorting her to her first ball as she's presented." His voice went dry. "Another man will have that honor."

* * *

 _Rhett waited to wake Scarlett until the press of other passengers passed by. He should have realized that law enforcement would find their way onto the train in the mean time._

 _"_ _Butler! I didn't realize you would travel with her."_

 _"_ _McLure." Rhett shook his hand warily. "She's been in a terrible condition. When we left Charleston, she wasn't keeping very much food down, and she was having terrible nightmares. I couldn't put her on the train by herself."_

 _"_ _Nightmares?" There was an unspoken question in the blond man's eyes._

 _"_ _Did you really tell her to do whatever it took to protect the boys?"_

 _"_ _What did it take?"_

 _"_ _Sleight of hand, mostly. I was seen everywhere with a heavily pregnant woman on my arm, but no one got a close view of her, and only my wife knows I stayed in her hotel suite."_

 _Ewan's eyes narrowed. "About that..."_

 _"_ _I won't deny that I'm willing to take any advantage with a woman I want desperately to love, but there were lines I couldn't cross with her this month. She wanted you too much."_

 _McLure nodded but looked at Rhett out of the corner of his eye. "I got your telegram on Saturday and the courthouse got unofficial word by telegraph on Monday. The notarized motion might actually be in the mail car of this train, but shouldn't be any later than the end of next week."_

 _"_ _I'll stay at my house in Galveston until it's all over. Did Ella get in safely?"_

 _"_ _Wade brought her yesterday."_

 _"_ _When is the ball?"_

 _"_ _The one in Galveston is in mid-November, and then there's the season in Houston after Christmas. We'll take her to the last ball in Galveston, just like always except she will attend it this time."_

 _"_ _Scarlett will miss it."_

 _Ewan rubbed a hand through his hair. "I suppose, but there's nothing to be done about it."_

* * *

"I don't see that it's such a crisis," said Caroline dismissively.

"It's her first dance at her first ball, and since she was an infant, I've imagined I would be leading her!"

Caroline started to get a sense of it, but shrugged. "What's done is done, and anyway I don't see the point. It's not as though I could do anything about it."

Rhett passed a file over to where Caroline was sitting at the table. "There is something you can do."

Caroline opened the folder and saw a photograph of a prettyish girl with a cloud of medium-colored hair and eyes similar to that of the O'Hara woman and Rhett's daughter. "Ella Lorena Kennedy," said the various papers in the folder.

"Is this the girl that the Robillard sisters and your mother have been taking all over town?"

"Yes. She will have a season in Texas this coming winter. Next year I want her presented at the Saint Cecelia."

"Now, Rhett, if the committee doesn't—"

"Caroline, I know you and Margaret hold most of the votes in your milk white hands. The poor girl can't help what her family is now, but she's connected to a lot of fine families, and deserves to have her chance as well as any girl in town."

"You want me to promote the O'Hara woman's daughter?"

"I want you to promote a young lady who was once my step-daughter and is no less dear to me despite the divorce from my wife. She's my Bonnie's sister, after all…"

"I can't do it, Rhett!" Surely he could see that he was asking too much!

He nodded his head. "I understand. Well, I guess I won't need to try to be back for the this year's Saint Cecelia, then. Much easier not trying to travel around Christmas. I can stay the whole time from November until March. Surely I'll be able to escort Ella to a few tea parties, at least."

"Rhett, we've always gone to the Saint Cecelia together! It's part of our story!" They'd been to the ball every year since the one when she'd met him. If they didn't have that, they really had nothing.

He stood and walked out of the breakfast room. He was half way across the hall when Caroline said, "Wait!"

"You called?" he asked, half turned in the hall.

She stood in the doorway. "What if they won't do it?"

"You will get them to do it. The family have made all the introductions and everyone in town things she's the sweetest thing since sugar. If she's not accepted, the only reason they wouldn't is fear of you. If you encourage them to do it, they'll do it."

He had her. The whole time he'd kept her eyes on the O'Hara woman, he'd had this other thing going on. "All right then, Rhett. I'll bring her up at the next meeting."

* * *

Houston, TX, August 1882

Scarlett woke to see a face leaning over her that she feared she would never see again. "You're here!"

"Welcome home, Katie-darlin'," said Ewan as he reached under her to pick her up.

She pressed her face into his shirt. "I feared I'd never see you again. The whole time, it seemed as though I'd have to leave you in order to keep them safe."

He helped her to her feet and then grabbed her as she swayed. "Are you all right there?"

She hugged him tight. "I am, now," she said. She turned and looked at Rhett. "I know you did _so_ much, Captain Butler. Words will never tell you. Thank you."

Ewan walked out of the compartment and down the steps first. Rhett held Scarlett's arm for just a moment. "I think you're safe enough, now, but be careful, Scarlett." He leaned down, and then his lips moved over hers for an instant. Ewan was reaching up to help her off the train, and Rhett followed from behind just in case.

Within minutes they were in the buggy, driving down the road toward home. "You didn't want me to take the train the whole way?" she asked.

"You would have had to wait a few hours for the Dixon line, and I thought you would enjoy just being here," he said. She fell back in love with the relaxed drawl of Texas, which she had to admit sounded more like home than the drawn-out vowels of the coastal states now.

"Is it really over?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Butler's telegram came on Saturday, and the courthouse got a telegram on Monday. The final paperwork should be done by the end of next week and then we'll be in the clear. The courts in Georgia weren't sure about your case. They seemed to think there might be a criminal complaint, but Butler is planning to stop in Atlanta on his way back to Charleston to take care of that. At any rate it's against her and not you, so it wouldn't be a problem. We received a telegram that Mrs. Butler's case against you in Charleston was dropped on Wednesday.

"I think I met Caroline," she said.

"What's she like?"

"She's a nosy old peahen. She asked a lot of questions no decent person would ask. Nothing like the sort of woman Rhett respects or loves."

"What sort of woman is that?"

"Melly is the only woman he ever considered a great lady. She was what he admired. I always thought he would want someone like her. She was endlessly kind. She respected and saw the good in him no matter what he did, just like she did with me. He adored her.

"Caroline is one of those women who constantly worries about other people's business, like my aunts or Suellen. He hates those women and gives them nothing but sarcasm."

"He would take you back in a heartbeat."

"I've never understood it. He's always nasty to me, but always so respectful to other women."

"His loss, Katie."

Kate was quiet for a while. Then she said, "We kissed when I was in Charleston, Ewan."

"When you were asleep, he told me a little of what happened in Charleston." Ewan pulled the horses up along the side of the road for a moment. "Katie—Scarlett—I think he took a certain amount of advantage of the situation."

"He never told me what he thought would happen. The whole time I was there, I believed that it was only a matter of days before he brought me to a judge who would tell me I belonged to him. If he had taken it from me, I would have given him what I should have as his wife." She looked out toward the lowering sun.

"He gave his wife the ultimatum that eventually forced her to do the right thing, Katie. I know he affected you." He tilted his head and used his fingertips to gently nudge her chin in his direction so he could look in her eyes. "Do you wish he had kept you with him?"

At that she straightened right up and looked at him, her eyes shining. "No! This is home, and you're my husband."

He kissed her, which took several minutes until the horses got restless. He chuckled. "I knew there was a reason I waited to do that."

Coming home after so many weeks was a joy. The twins wanted to show her the latest lizards they'd adopted in the kitchen garden as well as how well they could figure two times, now. Not to be outdone, Aiden shouted the alphabet over his older brothers' conversation and told Ma all about the mouse that the cat out in the barn caught just that morning. Little Joey didn't wait until Mama sat down before trying to climb up in her lap, where he stayed until she rocked him to sleep for the night.

Best of all was the light in Ewan's eye, happy to see her, glad for what she was able to do while she was away, and content to have her home. He smiled across the supper table from her and later held her hand while the family sat in the parlor and opened the gifts she brought. Then at bedtime, there was none of the awkwardness of how she would reach the difficult buttons and what might be required of her that night. She was home, to stay.

After a while, they were settled for the night, after reminding themselves and each other that they belonged to each other completely and no one else. Kate lay on her side, with Ewan behind her and his hand over the child. "I missed everything about home," she whispered, "but this I missed the most. I know that I won't have any nightmares tonight."

He kissed the nape of her neck. "I'll be here if you do, darlin', and there's something I meant to tell you."

She rolled over, which took quite a bit of flailing and adjusting. When she finally faced him, she said, "What is it?"

"I told the Rangers I needed to retire completely."

"But you were saying that the pension was important, and you loved going out."

"It's been getting old the last few times, Kate, and after the way I missed you this month, I know I can't put you through that, again. You've been left too many times."

She started to cry at that, emotional as the baby made her, and he had to reach for a handkerchief to dry her tears, after which he had to kiss her again. Then he got caught up in touching her and caressing her, and then she was touching him back, and perhaps they weren't as settled for the night as they'd been a moment before.

* * *

 _A/N: This chapter's song comes to us from the immortal Irving Berlin, and is new to me (Thanks, Pandora!). There's a pleasant enough cover by Francis Albert Sinatra with a soft bossa nova background, but the way Fred Astaire sings it to Ginger Rogers is pretty swoony. The man sings and dances with about as much difficulty as he breathes. They say she was one of the hardest workers in Hollywood, practicing her dance routines until her feet bled, and she makes it look pretty effortless, too._

 _There are quite a few readers and reviewers out there I wouldn't change for anything, including **gabyhyatt, Melody-Rose-20, Truckee Gal, romabeachgirl, Aethelfraed, COCO B, mega700201,** **kanga85,** and **Guests 1 & 2 & 3**._


	28. Flower of the Universe

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Katie watched Ella leave with her two step-fathers for Galveston with mixed feelings. She'd known for months that she would have to miss Ella's debut, but now that it was upon her, she was saddened by it. She looked down at her enormous belly and hoped that all of her dreams for this new child would be worth it.

She had spent the time since coming back home coaching Ella on the weekends, giving her the advice that she had learned from her Savannah-raised mother. She also added the lessons her Charleston aunts tried to teach her. Finally, she gave her frank advice she had picked up as the belle of five counties in Atlanta and its surrounding area. Katie realized when that combined with the more open and friendly attitudes inculcated in Texas, the result was a young lady who was a product of several parts of the South but hopefully refreshingly different from all of those places.

Rhett had arrived in early November, not saying much other than his determination to be present for and to dance with Ella at her first ball. Kate quickly realized that he had other motives as well. Whenever he could manage to get alone with her, he would place his hands upon her tummy, trying to get the baby to move. When he succeeded, such a look would come over his face that she had to turn away.

"I shouldn't let you do this," she observed.

"I need—I missed this with the boys," he replied. When she started to retort, he put his hand over her open mouth and said, "I know it's my own fault—or Charles and Caroline's fault—but I need this, Scarlett."

"It's most likely Ewan's child," she said quietly but firmly.

"It's _your_ child, and I'll love her in any case."

" _Her?"_

"I've been very much reminded of Bonnie this whole time," he whispered, kissing her chin and stepping away.

* * *

On the last weekend before she was to leave for Galveston, Ella, with the assistance of Francine, the maid hired for Ella's season, dressed from head to toe as she would for the ball. She practiced coming down the stairs on Ewan's arm and walked into the parlor. Once she arrived there, she performed her curtsy perfectly, to Mother and Uncle Rhett's applause.

Kate sighed as the dust on the lane settled, the buggy long passed from view. Her greatest fear was that this child would look exactly like Rhett. What if it was a girl who looked just like Bonnie? She rubbed her tummy.

Doctor Zimmer had checked her just yesterday and said that she probably had at least a week if not two or more before she was likely to go into labor. Scarlett had been carefully counting. If the child had been conceived in Galveston, then she was on the verge of being overdue. Of course, babies came when they would rather than exactly when they were expected. A child born in mid-November could be a two-week early child of Rhett's as well as a perfectly on-time child of Ewan's. Foolishly, she had hoped that it would have come by now and that she would be able to stop wondering.

She rubbed her moving stomach and thought of Rhett's hopes. She didn't mind the idea of a little girl. Back when the twins were born, she'd hoped for a boy. She was scared that a little girl who was too much like Bonnie would be torture and a little girl who was _nothing_ like Bonnie would be worse. Now a little girl would be delightful… even if she looked like Rhett, although she devoutly hoped the child wouldn't.

Ewan would love a little girl to spoil. It wasn't his fault that Ella wasn't quite as attached to him as she was to Rhett. Kate wanted to give him a daughter of his own.

* * *

Ewan McLure loved nothing more than waking up with his wife in his arms. Even when they had been arguing, the feel of her by his side in the mornings reminded him just how good his life was. Even though they had to get up and do all the work that went with running the farm, the fact that he held her now served to remind him that after all the work was done, they would be right back here.

He hated that he had to leave her again, but he accepted it that it was necessary. Ella's debut had been planned for years, and the baby was going to be born any day now. It was bad luck, but it was how it turned out. Ewan buried his face in his wife's neck and breathed deeply. She stretched a little but didn't wake up, instead burrowing further into their bed.

It was _their_ bed now. In another time, it had been his bed, put in his room when the house was built for their small family that was held together by a marriage of convenience. Over the months, it had become a bed they sometimes used together and more frequently went empty night after night as he shared her room. Since last spring, she had only slept in her room a handful of times, eventually telling him with clear green eyes that her other room wasn't home any more. He had forgiven her, and eventually she forgave herself, but she could never forgive that bed where it happened.

And so the McLures found themselves in a new phase of their marriage. They transformed Kate's old bedroom into a nursery for the baby. It was mostly appropriate for either gender, but if the furnishings leaned toward pink and if it contained more delicate gowns and dresses than any of the boys had worn, perhaps it wasn't so strange. They both felt sad that Ella was growing up and looking toward her future and wished for a little girl. Ewan's bedroom, which had been more than he needed, to be honest, was now filled to overflowing with Kate's things, and yet the room was perfect for the two of them. All he really cared about, after all was that Kate was in his bed with him.

He would have to get out of this bed soon to take care of things and then leave the farm for a couple of weeks. The only good side of this situation was that while Ewan had to leave for Galveston in just a couple of hours, so did Butler. The other man had quietly made it clear that he'd been looking forward to Ella's debut since she was a child, and Ewan recognized a certain right he might have to be there. There was fortunately no argument about whose arm she would hold as she walked in. Ella had two men eager to take the place of the late Frank Kennedy. Ewan would have the honor in Texas, and Rhett would act as her father in Charleston, assuming Caroline came through with the invitation.

Ewan got up and kissed his wife's forehead before heading out to the morning chores. He had spent the month apart from Kate taking care of both parts of the farm, something he had rarely needed to do over the years of their marriage. The horses had done well for themselves this past year. There was a number of foals that was supportable at the current rate of growth and the two and three-year-olds were coming along well. Ewan had decided to look into new breeding stock from further afield this winter. The cotton was thriving as well. Kate had almost as many acres as she could handle under cultivation until such time as the twins decided they wanted to take part in the farm. She had started to rotate a few crops in to replenish the land with the benefit of providing feed for the horses and other livestock.

The decision to leave the Rangers entirely had been one under consideration for a while, but it couldn't be denied that spending a month on the farm without his wife spurred Ewan on. It had maybe been a dozen occurrences that had taken him from their land out to find the criminals that the state of Texas deemed necessary for him to catch, but it was twelve too many, he finally decided. It wasn't that it was too much work, although if a foal was being born either during planting season for the cotton, there were some brutally late nights.

It was that the evenings were so lonely, without someone to discuss the various events of the day. He realized, in taking care of it by himself, that it was the time of day when they connected the most, and when they often made interesting small decisions, given thoughts that might occur to one or the other as they went about the daily activity. Those times apart, lasting only a few weeks at the most, broke up their intimacy and Ewan was now determined that it shouldn't happen again.

Small but strong hands came around Ewan's back as he washed up for breakfast. "You're so eager to be on your way."

He turned and hugged her with his wet hands. "All the better to come home as quickly as possible." It wouldn't work that way this time; there was a specific schedule they would need to follow. He dropped kisses in her hair, hoping they would protect her from the loneliness. "So this child doesn't want to come out yet?"

She shook her head. "The doctor said it would be at least a week or two."

"Make it the full two so I can be here."

Her eyes gleamed. "I'll do what I can. You know I can't do this without you holding my hand."

It wasn't entirely true, but it was true since he met her.

"All of her clothes and yours are in the buggy all ready," Kate said, turning to the important things. "Do you have the pearls?"

"They're in my Ranger bag," he said, referring to the bag he always carefully packed himself to be ready for when he was called upon. It would never be used for the old purpose again, but it was still the bag he packed himself and placed in a certain spot in the house, filled with the necessities of the next trip. The pearls were his and Kate's gift to Ella for the occasion. They were perfectly in line with the dress she would wear and what the other girls being presented would also wear. "I'm not as sure about the emeralds."

The emeralds were Rhett's gift to her, made from one of the pieces Rhett had once given Scarlett Butler. Ella would wear it with a green gown at a ball a week after the debutante event. During the trip to Charleston, Rhett and Scarlett had discussed such a gift and whether it was appropriate, and decided that since this particular set of jewels would probably never be used by her again, it would not be wrong to have it broken down and made over into something more appropriate for a young woman of just seventeen who was looking toward her first season. The result was a chain of emeralds that was not entirely different from the string of pearls Ella would wear at her debut. A band of them was made for her hair, and ear-bobs would complete the set. The rest of the emeralds would be set aside for future use.

"Rhett knows, better than you or I, what's appropriate. He won't let her make a single mis-step. Charleston is too important to him," she observed.

Ewan hugged her closer at the thought of Butler. He knew the facts of their situation, and that Ewan held all the advantages. Yet he was still glad that Butler would be alone with him and not her during the next two weeks. The baby started moving between them, and they smiled at each other, exchanging a soft kiss. It was time for breakfast and then it would be time to leave. There would be a long day's drive to Galveston, during which Ewan would no doubt be regaled again with the story about how Ella's father had been the means of Rhett Butler meeting Scarlett O'Hara, a story Butler always found highly amusing.

* * *

At length the day of the ball came, and the two stepfathers stood in the parlor of their hotel suite, fitting and re-fitting their gloves as they waited. They were both familiar with waiting for her mother, and therefore knew it could be a while. When she was finally framed in her door, they both smiled and each offered an arm to her to lead her downstairs.

Ella Lorena Kennedy would be introduced on the arm of Ewan McLure, who would also lead her through her first dance. He and Rhett then watched as several of the young men of their acquaintance requested dances from her. They compared notes on the young men and generally looked terrifying in their spot on the sidelines. Any young man with nefarious intentions toward Ella should reconsider his options. If one of her stepfathers didn't make sure a wrongdoer was punished to the full extent of the law, the other would likely make sure the wrongdoer's body was never found.

* * *

Rhett felt his eyes mist up as he watched his little girl enter the grown-up world. This is Bonnie's sister, he kept realizing, and as he watched, he knew there were similarities between the two girls. Ella rarely let her true nature show in front of her mother, so Scarlett never realized just how many mannerisms Ella copied from her. Tonight the young Scarlett O'Hara was remembered as Ella flirted and preened and cast those green eyes over her fan.

"Are those tears, Butler?" asked McLure.

"I miss her mother," he replied in all honesty, caught out for once.

He couldn't wait for his own dance with her, and reassured her that she was doing beautifully. "You're a somewhat more refined version of your mother," he observed to her.

"Mother did everything so perfectly, though. She was the belle of five counties."

"And yet you have something she never quite did," he said. "You will be the belle of Southeast Texas and Charleston combined." She smiled serenely at that, pleased to have done so well.

* * *

They were quite tired when they arrived back at Tara after their two weeks in Galveston. After two balls in which Ella never went without a dance partner, several teas, and three dinners, it could be said that Ella was a success. Best of all, Rhett brandished a letter that had arrived in Galveston when they were there: The St. Cecelia society cordially invited Miss Ella Lorena Kennedy to be one of their debutantes the following year.

Ella shrieked and hugged Uncle Rhett. "Thank you so much!" she said. "I feel like a fairy princess."

"And so you are, my dear," he answered, wishing that Bonnie could be here to participate. She would be so angry that Ella got to do this first, but Rhett would have carefully explained that it was all practice so that he would know exactly how to do it all for her the following year, which she would have all to herself.

Scarlett summoned everyone to the supper table. She seemed a bit short tonight, and her husband never took his eyes from her face, even when saying the blessing. She was gracious and hospitable and presided over her table as she had since he'd known her, but she was definitely not putting anything extra into her interactions with anyone.

When it was time to move to the parlor, Scarlett turned a sickly pale and ran to the kitchen. Mahala put her head through the pantry door. "Ewan, you'll need to get her upstairs."

Rhett watched McLure carry Scarlett through to the staircase, where he took the stairs two at a time. Behind him he heard snatches of conversation. "Her whole dinner… probably nine fingers already… not more than an hour or two…"

Alfredo was sent for the doctor, and the evening vigil started. The twins stayed with Rhett on the side porch as he chain smoked cigars.

"The gray tabby had five kittens while you were gone," Bud told him. "She yowled a lot, much more than Ma is crying now."

"I don't suppose it's as much to cry over when it's only one baby," observed Jerry.

"I'm sure it's a great deal of pain no matter how many babies it is," answered Rhett. He couldn't forget the days he watched her bedroom door in Atlanta, hoping and praying that the child wouldn't kill her as he heard the whispered moans of her pain and fever. What promises had he made to God at that time? Had he paid for them yet?

"A man tried to buy the pretty three-year-old with the white markings on her forehead, but Ma sent him away. She told us later that we need to develop a sense about people and he was all wrong."

"She took his name down, though. If Pa checks him out and he's ok, she'll write back about it."

"I don't think he'll be ok. He hollered at Ma something awful, and she hollered right back. She didn't help with the afternoon chores, though."

"Sometimes she needs to be protected from herself. When she gets started working on things, she will forget to take care of herself," Rhett remembered. When he'd last seen her in Atlanta, she'd been as frail as he'd ever seen her. Just now, even heavily pregnant, she had seemed small in McLure's arms. Scarlett acted so sturdy, but Rhett thought of the times she wasn't and wondered if God was up for more bargains.

They were aware of the doctor coming in, but he didn't pass them so they didn't speak to him. It wasn't long afterwards that Rhett heard a triumphant shriek that caused him to drop the cigar he'd just lit. An instant later, they heard the cry of the baby.

It was a girl; there was little further word before Olivia descended upon the twins and whisked them to bed. Scarlett was seemingly well enough for a woman who'd just given birth, but neither she nor the baby were in any condition to meet any members of the family other than Ewan, who was reportedly delighted by his daughter. Rhett looked at a calendar he had put together and wondered.

The next morning Rhett visited Scarlett, who was sitting up on a chaise and holding her new baby. She let Rhett take the child, knowing that he was at least as good at handling new babies as she was. He sat down on a chair to admire the baby and was struck by her. "So much like Bonnie," he whispered around a lump in his throat.

"I know. I've been calling her Jeanie," whispered the child's mother.

"Jeanie?"

"Bridget Marie, for Ewan's mother and first wife," she answered.

"But wasn't Jeanie what you were going to call Eugenia Victoria?"

"Yes."

He looked up at Scarlett and saw a tear running down her cheek. It was amazing just how much the child looked like her mother and her sister… except for the wispy, tawny hair on her head.

"I should get back to Charleston," he said, changing the topic. "I promised Caroline that I would be back for the St. Cecelia. It was the price of Ella's invitation."

"I appreciate your sacrifice, but I know you enjoy it yourself."

"I do, really. I may rearrange my schedule going forward, more time in Texas and just a month or two in the winter in Charleston."

"You're not doing that on my account, I hope," she said.

"No, it's for the boys," Rhett answered. He kissed the baby's head and breathed in the scent of Scarlett's babies.

Jeanie started to fuss and moved her head back and forth, looking for her mother. Rhett handed her back and then put his hand on Scarlett's shoulder, kissing her cheek. "Goodbye, my dear."

 _A/N: This chapter title comes from a lovely song featured in the movie version of A Wrinkle in Time and sung by Sade. I'm very sorry about how long it took to write this chapter. Stuff and all. All kinds of stuff at my house and I finally got a chance to put together the quilt frame for my sewing machine today, going back and forth from my PC as I remembered what I wanted to write and then back to the frame when I got stuck. The frame ready for the next quilt, and the story is now ready for Chapter 28, both of which I have to start working on. Tomorrow._

 _Thanks to the flower garden of readers and reviewers, including **COCO B, kanga85, gabyhyatt, Truckee Gal, romabeachgirl, Aethelfraed, Melody-Rose-20, Conlyn70, Guest 1 & 2 & 3, WhitmanFrostFiend, ****garnet911** , and **TQ.**_


	29. Bei Mir Bist du Schoen

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _I was 80% of the way through this chapter when I was asked when the heck I would post another chapter of Complimenting Your Intelligence. Well, the fact of the matter is that although I know pretty much how all of that happens, I have to re-read the book and make sure I slide things into the canon properly every time I write a chapter. (As it happens, I made a major mistake with the last chapter of that one. Totally blew it.) It's not that I want to retell exactly GWTW but with the one or two changes. I want it to be fully its own story but consistent with the original. In short, it's not a simple thing to shift a couple of plot points and then follow the rest of the story in my plot. Anyhow, there is another chapter of that work, but I'm not super happy with it. Maybe I'll post it in a day or two, or maybe I'll fry it and start over._

 _That has nothing to do with this story, however, so without further ado..._

Charleston, SC, January 1884

Caroline Butler looked around the hall, admiring the work that the decoration committee had done. It was just as it should be. The hothouse flowers brought a heady fragrance to the room, but not too much; there were just enough flowers and not a single stem more. This ball was a time to recall all of the old traditions, but not forget the deprivations of the past ten years. Still, things had been freshened, just a bit, over what had been done the year before. This would be a ball to remember.

Ella would make her debut tonight. She was a lovely young lady with a beautiful cloud of gingery blonde hair and gray-green eyes she knew how to use, the one feature she inherited from her mother. That curtsy the girl learned in Texas was a dream. She would be presented, and Caroline knew the Charleston girls well enough to know that Ella would be deb of the year. Since Rhett was her stepfather and Caroline was his wife, the glory would be all theirs. It was everything Caroline could ask of a St. Cecelia Ball, since her own debutante days were crowned with the marriage of her choice.

Caro looked around the hall one last time. The decorators had done well, and Ella would show to perfection. Another woman might have given birth to Rhett's children, but one of them would be Caroline's child tonight. She checked her watch. She had just enough time to dress for the evening. With any luck Rhett would think she was beautiful. He would be grateful for what she was doing for Ella Kennedy. Perhaps this would be the year…

* * *

Ella stood in the dressing room, smiling shyly at the girls she'd met when she'd gone to all of those at home visits and tea parties. They knew the city, they already knew of the men she would meet tonight. She was confident in her looks, in the dress that Uncle Rhett told Mother to get her, in the simple jewelry she wore, and in her own skill. Yet, as she had learned more from Mother's experience than Mother's lips, much depended upon the attitudes of one's peers. It would pay to be humble and gracious. The other girls were beautiful and no doubt accomplished as well.

Rhett smiled as she came out and took his arm. "You're beautiful, Ella, just beautiful."

"Thank you," she responded. "You were absolutely right about the gown. The other girls are a little pleased that it's not as fashionable."

"I made your mother do the curtsy for me a few years ago so I knew what sort of dress you needed. Having you be less fashionable will make them less angry when you have a full dance card at the end of the night."

He had done all that he could to ensure an evening with no rancor. Ella's smile gave him every bit of thanks he needed. If only Bonnie …

Rhett thought he would explode with pride. He wasn't sure exactly when this wish had started in his heart, but the dream of presenting a daughter to Charleston, a daughter who was sure to _thrive_ , was coming true. He had made his arrangements in Atlanta to do this with Bonnie, but of course fate was unkind to him there. Then he'd been angry with Scarlett for taking the children so far away from him.

When he realized they were in Texas, he was aghast, but after spending time there, adjusted his opinion. The gentility of Galveston and the pretentiousness of Houston had combined to make a young lady who was a perfectly demure debutante yet with the toughness to survive the season. After watching Ella for the last several years, he knew she was equally at home in a drawing room or on a horse helping to chase down livestock.

The hard part would be finding a young man worthy of her. Rhett was sure that he could back her financially to search for such a man in the United States or Europe to find him. Once they found him, he knew Ewan had the resources to vet the man. Once she stepped into the ball room, Ella's future would be assured.

* * *

Caroline watched as the girls were introduced, one by one. Miss Kennedy would be somewhere in the middle. They each had some sort of flaw as Caroline watched them. One didn't smile, another tottered as she curtsied, some had dresses that didn't fit well. Then Ella came in, and she was perfection, right down to a little flirtatious smirk as she walked away. Caroline saw that smirk and recognized it from the portrait of her rival, but tonight it was _her_ smirk because it was part of _her_ triumph. There was a frisson of delight, a sigh of pleasure as everyone watched her sink into that deep Texas curtsy after which she arose like a magnolia blooming. After it was done, Rhett looked over to Caroline and bowed his head slightly. Her heart beat fast at the shared moment.

The debutantes all danced the first dance with their fathers or guardians. The mothers watched proudly, and Caroline took advantage of her opportunity to do that, too. She might be biased, but she thought one pair looked better than the others on the floor. As she listened, some of the other people around the ballroom commented at how good Captain Butler looked with Miss Kennedy. They danced beautifully.

Then it was Caroline's turn. When she had the worst feelings of disappointment in her life that she would never truly be Rhett's wife, she counted down the months and days and hours to the moment they would dance at this ball. Whatever Rhett felt about their marriage, for some reason he always gave her this. The St. Cecelia was hers.

She was conscious of the fact that she didn't dance as well as Miss Kennedy did. She wasn't quite as lovely in her ball gown, although it was one of the best in the room tonight. Rhett, however, could make any partner float through the room. It was one of the reasons she'd fallen in love with him.

"Everything was done perfectly," he said to her, smiling at her in a way she'd always known he could but never saw. "Ella is on her way."

"It's a triumph for all three of us," she responded. "Oh, Rhett, this is exactly what I pictured of our life together."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Mrs. Butler," he responded. "This changes nothing between us. I'd hate to ruin this night by giving you the wrong expectations."

Caroline blinked and smiled. She couldn't make a scene tonight, now, in this place. She had to absorb the fact that he would never love her. She would have to take the triumph that was tonight and make the most of it.

The song ended, and he bowed properly over hand before walking her back over to the refreshment table. He walked over to a side entrance, and it was then that Caroline first saw her. There was no hiding behind a pregnant belly and deep bonnet tonight. She was wearing the blue gown from the portrait in Rhett's bedroom and a diamond parure worth more than Caroline's house. Caroline felt her stomach's contents turn to pure acid.

Then she recovered herself. No one knew the woman in blue was Ella Kennedy's mother. Rhett was Ella's stepfather. Rhett had introduced her to Charleston society. Caroline was Rhett's wife, and therefore tonight, she was the mother figure in the scenario. It was Caroline's triumph regardless of who Rhett went to stand next to.

"They say her name is Mrs. Ewan McLure," said Margo behind Caro's shoulder.

"I know of her," said Caroline.

"She's quite lovely. I wonder how she and Captain Butler know each other?" Of course Margo would hope to get the gossip and expect Caroline to give it to her. Caroline had to wonder how Margo had learned nothing since Caroline's marriage?

"I believe she's related to the Robillard sisters," answered Caro. "I understand Rhett met her during the war."

"They dance well together."

"Indeed. Of course, he dances beautifully with everyone." Caroline let her voice get a bit frosty to end the conversation.

The orchestra extended the waltz a little, and Caroline was aware of the slightest bit of guilt watching Rhett dance with his Scarlett. Caro had destroyed this perfect thing, this marvelous organism that floated over the floor. Had Rhett ever been so happy in his life? Never in Charleston, for sure. He looked taller and even incandescent with the O'Hara woman in his arms. The woman in question had a certain glow about her as well. Her daughter would be debutante of the year. It was clear just from the moment of her presentation. But if the O'Hara woman danced with all the men in the same way she danced with Caroline's husband, she would be the belle of this ball, and the O'Hara woman knew it.

Happily, the waltz finally ended and Rhett walked his partner back close to where he obtained her. There was a flash of a camera light and Caroline had an uncanny feeling of deja-vu as she watched the O'Hara woman standing in between two men. It was almost exactly the same candid pose as one of the newspaper clippings from Texas that Caroline had in her desk. Captain Rhett Butler, Mrs. Ewan McLure, and Mr. Ewan McLure were smiling for just a moment before husband and wife slipped onto the dance floor.

This pair had none of the magic or glamor that Rhett shared with the woman. There was different sort of beauty about them as a dancing pair. They were definitely comfortable together and delighted to be dancing the reel with each other. They smirked and flirted and shared inside jokes together as they came back together again and again. The O'Hara woman's eyes glowed at her husband. Rhett would dance with Mrs. McLure every chance he got, dancing with his mother or sister when Wade Hamilton or Mr. McLure claimed her, but this was his night, and this was his happiness. This was one of the things they had traded to stay together and to keep this date every year forever.

Caroline had sensed as they sat in the park a year before that she had nothing to fear from this woman. Now she knew it for a fact. The McLure man was quite handsome and captured quite a few glances from the women present, as many as the O'Hara woman got from the men and nearly as many as Rhett got from everyone. They were obviously in love with each other. Caroline took heart in knowing that the O'Hara woman would not try to hurt the Butler marriage. Any troubles there could only come from Rhett.

She saw Rhett dancing with his sister and looking annoyed every time he came close to the McLures. _Serves him right,_ Caroline thought, without any concern for her internal inconsistency. Rhett wasn't having as much fun as he might have. Hopefully Caro could get another dance or two out of him. Meanwhile, Ella was dancing with one of the young men who had come to tonight's ball, and managed to survive the nervous youth's less-practiced dancing. All was as it should be there.

* * *

One of the great pleasures in Rhett's life had been dancing with Scarlett, and to do so here perfected a night he had looked forward to for years. "I'm not sure what the fuss is about… It's a bit crowded, isn't it?" Scarlett asked while they danced.

"That's one of the reasons it can be difficult to get an invitation," he replied. "They have to trim the numbers constantly."

"I'm quite grateful to you for letting me see this then," Scarlett answered.

"You missed her debut in Galveston. It was the least I could do," he answered.

"Fiddle dee dee, Rhett, when you use that tone of voice I just know you're on the verge of saying or doing something scandalous," she replied. For a moment they were both young again, and his heart gave a lurch.

"I hadn't planned on it, but perhaps I should repeat what I did in Atlanta all those years ago and squeeze you tighter."

"Rhett!" she hissed. He loved the way she ducked her head and looked around before looking him in the eye again. "You _are_ a varmint." He had to squeeze her again and grinned into her guilty giggle.

* * *

Ewan danced with Eulalie and then Pauline. He had told Kate he'd been doing it before they arrived, which annoyed her. "I don't see why you have to do that," Kate said with asperity.

"They're the closest thing I have to a mother-in-law," he answered. "And they have a tale or two to tell about young Katie Scarlett O'Hara, I'm sure."

Kate watched both of their aunts flutter like young debutantes themselves as Ewan guided them out in turn. They danced quite well, actually, but it shouldn't have been a surprise. After all they were the sisters of Ellen Robillard, who cut an extremely elegant figure on the dance floor when she had the opportunity to dance, as Kate recalled wistfully. Ewan had a similar knack to Rhett's of making his partners comfortable dancing. All in all, Kate had to decide it was a good thing to do.

* * *

The former Scarlett Butler was invited to tea at her former mother-in-law's house the next afternoon. Elizabeth Butler was not at home to anyone else who happened to drop by that day. She was spending the afternoon with her grandsons. In their eight year old way they understood the relationship, based upon their mother's previous relationship to Rhett, and agreed to call her Grandmama as she directed them.

"Rhett, they're absolutely charming!" Elizabeth gushed as the boys slurped their milk and mushed their sandwiches into their mouths.

"You know it's all Scarlett's doing. We should have taken Bonnie out to Texas to raise. Atlanta was too confining for a child as fearless as ours are."

Scarlett twisted her lips. The man could say whatever he pleased to his own mother in his own home, but _she_ knew what went into harnessing all of that energy and fire and turning it into such fine children. Rather, she knew some of it. Ewan knew the rest.

"Such a shame you couldn't bring the baby," said Elizabeth. "I've been dying to hold her."

"She's been tired and fussy lately, and we're hoping she will take a good long nap today, Miss Elizabeth," said Scarlett.

"Some other time then. You will be staying the season?"

Scarlett shook her head. "No, we're actually leaving in a day or two. We need to get back to Texas. It's not the busy season, but our farm doesn't really have a slow season."

Gerald asked a question, and Elizabeth turned to answer him. Scarlett stood and looked at the small portraits on the mantlepiece. Rhett joined her.

"Those two look so much like the twins!" she observed.

"That's actually my brother and myself at about their ages," he answered. "Mother has photographs of the twins in the drawer of the end table next to her chair."

Another portrait caught Scarlett's eye. "How did this get… _what_ is this one?" The child looked very much like Bonnie, and by extension, Jeanie.

"That's Rosemary as a baby."

"But your sister's hair is so dark."

"She was a towhead when she was born, and it darkened when she was in school. Children's hair can do that, you know."

Rhett was smirking at her, and suddenly she understood why he wasn't terribly disappointed when Jeanie's hair was so light a year before. She looked at the picture again. The features and lineament of the face were not much like Jeanie at all, or even Bonnie. It was just the scowl on the child's face that gave the impression. The eye color was much paler than Jeanie's too. Scarlett decided not to worry about it… until she looked into Elizabeth Butler's eyes.

* * *

Kate sat on the same bench in the Battery park that she had sat on a year and a half before, watching the twins play, when Ewan and the other children found her. Aiden and Joseph scrambled on her lap and demanded kisses before scrambling back off and running after the bigger boys.

"You seem concerned," he said.

"I hate Charleston. I'm ready to go home, and Rhett will stay the whole season. Can't we just go home?"

"I need to wait for a telegram to come back, but it should come by tomorrow afternoon." So far there was only one young man Rhett and Ewan didn't have a history for, an Emmett Mayfield who sounded as though he came from the best neighborhood of London until he he'd had a couple of glasses at the saloon and sounded more like the resident of a poor dockside district. Ewan was working through his contacts in the States, while Rhett had sent some cables to England. It was particularly important because Mr. Mayfield had managed to get invitations both in Galveston and Charleston. "I thought you wanted to stop for a few days in Atlanta, and to see your other farm."

"That woman wants to claim all of my children as her grandchildren," she answered bitterly.

"I think we've established that the parents of those children want them all to live and grow up right where they've been all their lives," he responded.

"Yes," she answered, "but why stir so much up? Can't they just leave it alone?"

"I've noticed that Butler seems incapable of leaving anything alone, and it's a character trait that has to come from somewhere. I take it his mother is the same?" He smirked with amusement, annoyed by not terribly surprised or troubled.

It wasn't something she had ever considered before.

"They're just children, and they don't understand what all the fuss is about, and they're _my_ children. Why can't the Butlers let that be?"

"Are you really so worried that they can take them away? You know they can't. If even now they succeed, we can just make more."

"God's nightgown, Ewan McLure!" She turned to see that he was teasing her, but in his eyes she saw that it was as important to him as to her.

"Don't worry," he whispered into her neck, a hand sliding across her middle. "They're our children, and everyone involved knows they belong with you… with _us_."

* * *

 _A/N: So which is it? I haven't a clue. Everyone has an opinion so I guess you're all right. There's no kit from 23 and Me or Ancestry dot com to swab anyone's cheeks. Out of my seven kids, all the pale blonde babies have dark blonde to medium brown hair now._

 _This chapter was originally going to be "Cheek to Cheek," and of course there are some magnificent covers out there, but come on... Fred & Ginger, speaking of quintessential dance partners. "Bei Mir Bist du Shoen" was written by Jacob Jacobs, Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin, and Shalom Secunda and also done by many, including the Andrews Sisters back in the day. I was recently put onto the Hot Sardines by COCO B (they're amazing!), and their cover of this, which includes a mashup with the song "Diga Diga Doo" is fabulous._

 _So... I get to a certain part in every story and then start dragging my feet as though I can't stand to work on it any more. There's no loss of vision or interest, but perhaps a bittersweet feeling of because it's not going to take much longer. Sorry to drag it out. I'll try to do better with the next chapter. We've only got two or three, maybe four to go._

 _Meanwhile, to me, all of my readers and reviewers are beautiful, including **Phantom710, gabyhyatt, COCO B, breakfastattiffanygs, kanga85, Truckee Gal, Helen888, Aethelfraed, Guest 1 &2, Conlyn70, Melody-Rose-20, mega700201, TQ, christag, ****KatelovesEwan,** and **romabeachgirl.**_


	30. You Don't Own Me

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

Clayton County, Georgia, October 1885

Susan Elinor O'Hara Benteen wanted nothing more than to be the great lady of Tara. The proudest day of her life was the day when her older sister, basin full of vomit in her lap, looked at her and tiredly said, "It's all yours, Sue. I won't be back." Scarlett O'Hara, the great bane of Suellen's existence, had failed at life. She had failed miserably, pregnant and with no husband. The scandal would kill her and so she was moving to Texas. Unfortunately, the scandal would have killed the rest of the O'Haras, too, so Suellen had to keep quiet. No one in the world understood just how great her victory was.

Bless her, at least Scarlett kept sending money at the intervals it was needed. The money wasn't needed very much anymore. Tara was a going concern that supported itself and the two to three dozen people living upon it at any given time of year. Most years lately, Tara actually put a little money into the one bank account Scarlett still had in Atlanta. It was just once in a few years, when the house needed to be re-painted or they needed more farm equipment that the flow of cash required Will to ask Scarlett for money during one of the cash-poor seasons. The last three times he was able to pay it back.

Suellen didn't feel like the victor at the moment, however. She had worked so hard to win, and she had worked hard to keep Tara going. Now Tara was being taken over for a month while builders built and decorators decorated. Tara was being made over into the gracious property it never quite was in the past, and all for that girl. Suellen couldn't even be the hostess in her own home.

It couldn't be denied that over time, Will Benteen was probably a much better husband than Frank Kennedy ever would have been. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell for sure, since Suellen didn't get to marry Frank and Frank had died about a year after marrying another woman. The child of that marriage was now getting married, and Tara was the place she chose for her wedding. Suellen would do it for Frank, and for the daughter that should have been her own.

* * *

Caroline Butler prepared for her visit in Georgia with a frown on her face. Atlanta was such a new city, gauche and full of noisy, dirty machines and not the slightest bit refined. Worse yet, the wedding wouldn't even be there but out in a county on a farm too small to be a proper plantation! Poor Mr. and Mrs. Mayfield, who were part of London society, couldn't be expected to spend their time in such a place, and yet the bride and her mother decided that was the place they all would need to go.

Rhett, damn him, seemed to think there was nothing wrong with bringing the Mayfields to the country like that. He'd shown Mr. Mayfield all around Charleston harbor and the depot and the gentleman was delighted but confessed that it all exhausted him. Mrs. Mayfield went on calls with Caroline and expressed that she was completely charmed by the Southern United States.

Caroline listened to Rhett whistle as he packed. He was pleased as punch about this wedding. There had been some worry about Emmett, but Rhett read some report he got over the winter and smiled gladly. "The boy has just the right sort of background," he said.

"As if the daughter of a shopkeeper and a farmer could be too good for an English gentleman," said Caroline disparagingly. When Rhett looked up sharply, she added, "Although she's a delightful young lady in her own right, and of course you're a gentleman."

Rhett laughed so hard he had to put his cigar in the ashtray. "I think you're the only person of my acquaintance who ever made the mistake of thinking I'm a gentleman."

"Of course you are! There's your whole family!"

"Yes, Caroline, my father was a gentleman and my grandfather died a gentleman—although he didn't live as one—but you're much mistaken to think me one. No, my twit, I'm a self-made man. Everything you see before you is the result of my own undertakings, after my father threw me away with barely my name, although he might have tried to take that from me as well."

"But you act like—"

"When it suits me, but you've seen first hand that it doesn't always suit me."

"The Mayfields are fine people. Mr. Mayfield is a gentleman."

Rhett laughed pretty loudly at that. "Mr. Mayfield is self-made, my dear, not unlike myself. When he started, he had nothing, much like I had nothing after my father threw me out."

* * *

Tara in Georgia was an eye-opener for Caroline. It was nothing grand. She could allow herself a small smirk at the fact that her rival's value was nothing to what the first families of Charleston had for plantations. It was just a small farm with a large but basic farmhouse in the middle of it.

On the other hand, Tara showed signs of a prosperity that didn't exist anywhere Caroline had been in a couple of decades. The house had a well-trimmed roof and was recently painted. The other buildings were in good shape, and the fields were full of crops while the other plants were cared-for.

She turned to Rhett as he drove up the lane. "Your money did this!"

He shrugged. "I was married to this for five years. My money does nothing for it any more. I helped Scarlett get it running a little faster than she would have without me, but she would have made a go of it in any case. It's a completely self-run entity, now."

"Why would you spend the money on this farm and leave your parents' plantation run down?"

"Ask my brother."

"I would if he ever gave me the time of day. He wants nothing to do with you."

"There's your answer." Rhett stopped the buggy and helped Caroline out. "I wanted to spend money on my wife, and she wanted to spend the money on this. Then she worked, damned hard, to make it profitable."

"You never wanted to spend money on me and I've been your wife longer."

"I love _her_ , and did for years before I married her and ever since."

There was nothing Caroline could answer to that.

* * *

Emmett Mayfield's father turned out to be a teenaged dock worker who caught his employer's eye for good work and a clever mind. Over the course of two decades, he found himself ricocheted from the dock to a minor position at a small desk in the office at the dock and at desks of increasing sizes at his boss' main building. During the war in America, his employer asked him to handle the affairs of a couple of boats and a warehouse, for a cut of the proceeds.

Hearing of the Union Navy's likely blockade of the Confederacy, and reading enough on the subject to realize it was a foregone conclusion, Mr. Mayfield sent the boats in directions away from America, but encouraged the ships of the blockade runners to unload in his warehouses. As the need for things like American cotton and rice grew, he was able to raise the prices on the stock. Within the four years of the war he moved his wife and son from one of the poorest neighborhoods of London to one that was considerably more well to-do.

Mr. Mayfield's employer, impressed by his own profits over those years, offered a partnership, and the family's fortunes grew to the extent that by the time Emmett came of age, he was considered the next thing to a gentleman's son. He'd had tutors to educate him just as a gentleman would be, and when Oxford and Cambridge refused to educate him further, he crossed the ocean and spent several years in a different Cambridge, getting his education in the finest school America had to offer.

After completing his education, Emmett traveled the United States, looking for ways to increase his father's trade and make profits of his own. He found that he enjoyed the South, where commerce was still trying to re-establish itself. A young man with a little capital could quickly create a business and watch it grow. With his father's blessing and encouragement, he soon had shipping and transportation hubs in Wilmington, New Orleans, and Galveston.

During a winter in Galveston, Emmett had heard almost frightening things about a Mrs. Ewan McLure and how alluring she could be. He shook her hand, once, in a Houston parlor and understood the talk but was not himself attracted. The debutante ball where Mrs. McLure's eldest daughter came out was another story. Ella Kennedy was breathtaking, compared to the other girls.

She had poise and confidence, but she didn't push. When he had the chance to speak with her, he learned that they had far more in common than many of the girls he'd met before. Her parents, particularly her mother, had worked hard all of her life, just has his parents had worked for all of his. They knew that some of their peers looked down on them for that, but they were also proud of their parents and the hard work.

Ella wasn't like the other snobs, and she was good at avoiding them. She was charming, and had all the talents of a society lady. She didn't presume upon them, and she was almost shy in large groups. When just the two of them spoke, however, they found they could speak of nothing at all for an hour at a time. When combined with those gray-green eyes that spoke a language all their own, that cloud of red-gold hair that glowed in some lights, and a pleasing figure, Emmett was smitten.

When Emmett learned that Ella would have a second season in Charleston, he decided that his family business might need to consider the harbor there. He managed an invitation to the St. Cecelia Ball. It was a fair amount of work, and more money than he wanted to admit to spending, but she was thrilled that he would go to the effort.

The two step fathers were a bit of a hurdle, but if anything, their attention convinced him she was worth it. Ella spoke to each of them separately and made it clear Emmett was her choice unless they found something dire in his background. They quickly discovered that his family was not always wealthy, but when they understood the reasons for it, they were more inclined to approbation than otherwise.

* * *

At a dinner at Tara several nights before the wedding, Mr. Mayfield was seated next to Mrs. McLure, and they were comparing shipping to cotton farming.

"Cotton is so soft, Mrs. McLure! It must be a joy to work with it. Nothing like the tackle and rope and heavy machines of shipping."

She looked out over the fields with pride. "It _is_ a joy, but it's not as soft as you would think." She waved one of the servants over and spoke with him for a moment. The young man rolled his eyes, but nodded and then slipped out the door. Mrs. McLure spoke about inconsequential things until the young man came back. He handed something to her and she set it on the table.

"This is the hard truth of cotton, Mr. Mayfield," she said. "This is a cotton boll."

He held it in his hand the cotton fiber itself was quite soft and white, as expected, but it came in a hard brown covering that was still attached half way around the fiber.

"That's a tough shell."

"Indeed it is," she said with a dimple. "The plants are so pretty, and when they bloom, I look out on the fields and sigh with delight. But the crop is hard won. When the pickers go through, they pull out the fiber, but the cotton takes its toll." She slipped her gloves off and showed the scars on the back of her hands. "When we need to get it brought in, we can't take the time to be careful."

Mr. Mayfield took the hand close to him and patted it. "Hard work always leaves its mark. For those of us who value it, this is a mark of victory, Mrs. McLure. I can see your accomplishments go beyond the ordinary ones of gently-raised ladies."

"You do run on, Mr. Mayfield," she said with a giggle as she put her gloves back on. Then she cleaned toward him and said confidentially, "If all men felt as you do, we wouldn't be sitting here." She picked up her fork and tucked into her cobbler.

Down toward the other end of the table, Captain Butler coughed and cleared his throat.

* * *

Ella Lorena Kennedy had wished for so much on her wedding day, and somehow Mother managed to give her everything and more. The fields of Tara were a glorious white, and there were such wonderful flowers for her bouquet and the decorations. From somewhere a late blooming patch of honeysuckle gave a sweet scent.

Ella had worried about who would walk her down the aisle. Obviously, her own father was not an option. Uncle Rhett was the next most obvious choice, and yet… Much as Rhett was the longest-lasting father figure in her life, and although she loved him dearly, the fact remained that he wasn't there for so many things. Mother had done so much by herself. For that reason, Uncle Ewan wasn't right for the role either. The person who was there her whole life was Wade, and therefore she asked him to lead her down the aisle. But as soon as she stepped foot on the carpet and saw Emmett, it didn't matter if a single other person was in the room.

Suddenly nothing mattered. Ella was with the young man she had always hoped to meet, and once she met him, he was the young man she hoped would feel the same as she did. That he loved her was a miracle, and when she was standing next to him repeating their vows, she didn't care very much about how perfect her dress was, and how lovely Tara looked with all the decorations. All of those things were perfect, but they didn't matter so much as what would happen in all the tomorrows of her life. Perhaps Mother was right when she always whispered, "Tomorrow is another day."

For the banquet after, there was barbecue, and later that afternoon there was dancing. Uncle Rhett had paid to have the front yard rolled and trimmed so that a dance floor could be laid. Aunt Suellen would brag about that yard for years as though she had improved it herself, but it didn't matter. Emmett and Ella danced with their friends and family as the shadows lengthened until Mother signaled it was time to go to Jonesboro to catch the train.

Scarlett had the buggy at the back porch, away from the crowds, and saw the newlyweds into it. After kissing her daughter good bye, she leaned against a column and watched the buggy pull away. She sighed in contentment.

"You're missing your party."

She turned and saw Rhett lighting a cigar near the door to the house.

"I wanted a chance to take a breath. It's been a long day."

"How far along are you?"

"What?"

He stepped close and put his hand over her stomach. She pulled away, and he removed his hand. "I've known you long enough to know what you look like when you're pregnant, Scarlett."

"God's nightgown, Rhett! Have you no manners?"

"Have you not told Ella?"

"I wanted her to have this day to herself."

"You wouldn't have been so kind in the past, to take a back seat to another lady."

Her eyes twinkled, but flashed in a way he remembered from past years. "It's never been my daughter before."

He chuckled and went back through the door. Caroline Butler came around the corner and up the steps. "Is it his?"

"Do what?" Scarlett stepped away from the column to get back from Caroline.

"Is the brat in your belly my husband's by-blow?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"He left as soon as the season was over and only came to Charleston last month to prepare for the wedding. For all I know, he was with you the whole time."

"I don't know where he was, but it wasn't Texas. I haven't seen him since that ball until this week." She pulled herself up to her best posture. "It's not your business, but this child could have no father but my husband."

"Unlike some of your other children." Caroline stepped closer, causing Scarlett to step backwards. "It's my business where my husband is."

"Then you should have picked a different husband."

"You should have stayed away from him."

"I moved half way across the country to do just that." Caroline stepped forward and Scarlett stepped backward again. "I gave up _everything_ to be away from him."

"It wasn't enough!" Caroline stepped forward again and Scarlett took one more step back, one step too much. She shrieked as she fell backward ten feet into a bed of daylilies that had long since flowered that summer but left their green foliage behind to break her fall ever so slightly.

"Kate!" shouted Ewan just as Rhett shouted, "Scarlett!"

Will Benteen came around. "Can you get her upstairs?"

The other two men nodded their heads. Scarlett sat up and rubbed her head. "I'm fine." She stood up but then slumped into her husband's arms.

"The Fontaines have already left. I'll send someone to Formosa," said Will. "Young Doc will come quickly, I'm sure."

Rhett followed up the stairs as Ewan carried his wife to her bedroom. He watched as she eased onto her bed only to curl up in pain. "Oh, no," Scarlett whispered.

There was a worried look between husband and wife. Ewan raised his eyes to see Rhett at the door. "Just go."

It didn't take long for Rhett to find his own wife. He grabbed her elbow and led her to the stable yard. "We're leaving, Caroline."

"Is she dead?" Rhett looked at his wife. She didn't seem the slightest bit contrite. He should probably let the sheriff question her on suspicion of assault, but it would probably be ruled an accident, and Rhett was formulating a plan.

"No, but…" He shut his mouth, deciding it wasn't her business. There was one last train from Jonesboro to Atlanta, and he intended to be on it.

As soon as they reached Charleston, two days later, he went to his study and pulled a document out of his drawer. He whispered an apology to Rosemary, but she and her husband were at a point in his career that this might even add just the amount of spice to make a political campaign more interesting. After all, everyone was young once and there was a war on at the time. A line had been crossed, and there was no other way to go forward.

It was time to update the annulment paperwork and file it.

 _A/N: The song indicated was written by David White and John Madara. Leslie Gore did a well known version of it back in the day, but not my day. I'm a grandmother three times over as of this week, and my 19 year old likes to call my childhood and teen years "Ye olden times." Still, the time of Leslie Gore's popularity predates me by a few years._

 _What I know about cotton farming could just about fill a magnolia blossom (about the size of a latte cup for those who haven't been to a corner of Shangri-la where such trees bloom). My room-mate for a year in Texas had grown up in a migrant farm family, and ten years after she'd last picked cotton, she still had some pretty severe scars on the back of her hands. Where I live now, and I assume elsewhere in the US, they have harvester machines to do that job, for which I'm glad. Anyone who's taken US history ought to have been taught that Eli Whitney and the cotton gin in 1840 made King Cotton and super plantations possible. Before then, linen was actually an easier fiber to work with and muslin was a luxury fabric because so much time had to be spent on picking the seeds and that pod away from the fiber._

 _Meanwhile, in a very real way, the readers and reviewers do own me and I owe a great deal to you all, including **gabyhyatt, Truckee Gal, Guest, Conlyn70, COCO B, Phantom710, romabeachgirl, kanga85,** **Aethelfraed** , and **Melody-Rose-20.**_


	31. At Last I See the Light

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

 _Hey Howdy Hey! When last we met, I was fixing to go to Orlando. Two of our kids are cast members of the most magical place on earth, and we had a nice long reservation at a resort that is the closest to the biggest park. I actually did some writing while there, but we fell victim to some dread flu (I'm thinking H1N2) that I think one of our grandchildren gave us at home, and I lost the thread of a lot of things. Despite all of this, the most magical place on earth was still quite magical. Our room had a view of a lake that backs up to the hotel and yet from the balcony I was able to watch the evening fireworks at least two or three times during our trip and decided that this was the best song title for this chapter, written by Alan Menken and Glenn Evan Slater, and sung in the movie by Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore, and covered by several Disney acts since then. You can't hear the fireworks music from the rooms, but they broadcast it on one of the TV channels and you can leave the patio door open and there you go. It was kind of fun to watch the fireworks over Space Mountain while listening to the ducks on the lake as well as music from a movie that features a pub called the Snuggly Duckling. I wouldn't say it's a bucket list experience, but it was still a fun juxtaposition._

 _Then we came home and re-entry is always hard for me. I was still coughing pretty hard. It took me an extra week this time, but here we are and I might have a paragraph or two for the other story in my head as well. So without further ado..._

* * *

October, 1885, Clayton County, GA

When Rhett returned to Tara a week after Ella's wedding, he found Scarlett with her husband and Wade Hamilton on the front porch. McLure stood angrily, but Wade stood and put his hand out. He came down the steps to speak.

"It's not a good time, Uncle Rhett."

"I wanted to offer my assistance."

"I never gave it much credence when Uncle Henry mentioned it before, but death and destruction do seem to follow you. Mother can't face you, and Uncle Ewan wants to tear you to pieces."

"That's not fair."

"There's nothing fair about Mother losing the baby."

He closed his eyes. He had expected it all along, but he had hoped otherwise.

 _"_ _So help me, Caroline, if something has happened to her baby…"_

 _"_ _I did nothing to her baby."_

 _"_ _You pushed her off the porch."_

 _"_ _I never touched her!"_

 _"_ _I came back around the house just before she fell, Caroline. I saw you walking toward her, forcing her toward the edge of the porch."_

 _"_ _It doesn't matter. I didn't touch her. You can't prove I did anything, and it's not your baby." Caroline looked at him smugly. "She said she hasn't seen you since the ball."_

 _"_ _No, it's not my child," he responded, "but it is her child, and that makes it important to me. Why does it matter when I last saw her?"_

 _"_ _Because I know it's at least a year and a half since you've seen her."_

 _"_ _It's actually only been six months. She and her husband left shortly after Ella was introduced to Charleston, but I spent last summer in Galveston. The McLures visited often, and I taught the boys how to sail."_

 _"_ _She lied!"_

 _"_ _No, what she told you was factually correct. You will recall that this past season I left the morning after the St. Cecelia. I spent the season in Texas. After the final ball in Galveston, I spent this past summer in Europe."_

 _"You should have told me all of your plans. I am your wife, you know. I'm Mrs. Butler, and I live in your home."_

 _"it's your home, now." He handed her the paperwork he had worked on for two days since coming to Charleston. "It doesn't make our marriage valid. It was never consummated, and any other arrangements between us are null,_ Miss Bell _."_

 _She screeched. "You can't divorce me!"_

 _"_ _It's not a divorce. It's a statement that our marriage was never… err… completed."_

 _"_ _I don't care what it is, you can't say that! You're my husband! Daddy will—"_

 _"_ _I'm prepared to accept your father's wrath. It's past any time where people will care anymore except to think you're a grasping bitch and he's a two-bit extortionist. I told you two years ago that I can't be married to someone who would hurt the children, any of the children. You can't take it back, now, and I'm returning you to your unmarried state."_

 _"_ _And you're leaving me with nothing! After all I've done for you!"_

 _"_ _You've done it for and to yourself, my soon-to-be nonentity." He handed over a document. "I'm not leaving you with nothing. I'm leaving you with the house, and with the account that was transferred to your name when we married."_

 _"_ _But that's hardly anything!"_

 _"_ _The income from that money should keep you fairly well if you're prudent," he said, sniffing a cigar negligently. "It's not my problem if you can't make it work."_

 _"_ _What are you doing with the rest of it?"_

 _"_ _That is not your business, Miss Bell."_

* * *

"How is your mother?"

"How does she look to you?" Rhett looked past Wade's shoulder. She was a shell of herself, just as she had been when he sent her to Tara to recover from falling down the stairs in Atlanta.

"I wanted to offer—"

"They don't want to talk to you."

"Would you be so kind, then, as to relay my offer of a private rail car to return to Houston?"

"I will tender your offer to them and suggest that they accept. Aunt Sue is long since ready for the family to leave. It's not helping Mother's state of mind."

"I'd like to spend the afternoon with the boys, if I may."

"They're somewhere around. We'll probably find them around the back." Wade led Rhett around to the back of the house. All four of the boys were digging in the garden while Will watched and guided them, laying out the seeds they would be planting for fall vegetables.

"Where's Jeanie?" asked Rhett.

"Don't push your luck," answered Wade. "She's upstairs somewhere. I'll go talk to Mother and Uncle Ewan about the rail car."

He went back around to the front of the house. Rhett took off his jacket and waistcoat, rolled up his sleeves, and helped the boys turn the topsoil. After a half hour, Wade came back. He sighed. "It's not one of Mother's better days."

"What were her injuries?"

"She hit her head pretty hard. The doctor says it's as if there's some sort of bruise on the inside. It's giving her headaches."

"Wouldn't she be better off at home?"

"Ewan thinks so, too, and a private car will offer the gentlest ride."

"That it will... so they accept?"

"Yes, as soon as Young Doc says she's well enough to travel. Your wife did quite a bit of damage."

"She's not my wife. I filed the annulment paperwork just the other day."

"Then why—" Wade couldn't think of which of the myriad questions he wanted to ask first. "Why did you bring her to the wedding?"

"She was invited and came on her own, because of her relationship to Ella during the season in Charleston. As far as Ella knew, she was just the delightful Mrs. Butler, who helped her come out."

"Does my sister know nothing of that woman's true character? Does she know how your marriage ended? It was harder on Ella than on me after the divorce."

"I don't believe she does. Your mother was canny enough to avoid telling her before her debut. It would have hurt Ella's chances."

"You should never have married that woman." Wade sighed. "You should never have left, Uncle Rhett."

He coughed and looked away. "Perhaps, but what if I had stayed? We loved each other so much, but we might have killed each other. We came so close, and I'm not entirely sure Miss Melly— " He shook his head.

Young Doc weighed the anguish amongst the members of the family, particularly his patient's state of mind against the actual physical issues and decided that since a private rail car was involved, Mrs. McLure could make the journey to Texas after another week. She was still a little delicate from her injuries, but she appeared to be quite recovered from the concussion and there was none of the internal damage that had followed her previous accident and miscarriage.

Rhett Butler was there at the depot in Atlanta to make sure that everything went smoothly at that end, allowing Ewan McLure to ensure that his wife was carefully and safely placed in the parlor of the car. Scarlett thanked him quietly as she said goodbye. Ewan shook hands with Rhett as everything was finalized. He should show some appreciation, although he felt that Butler was as much to blame as that wife of his. "Do me a favor and stay away," he said as Rhett stepped off the car.

"I understand," he replied. Rhett had a sense of rounding a circle. He had deliberately chosen not to go with Scarlett to Tara all those years ago when she lost his child. He'd had a sense on that day that it wouldn't be right. After the argument on the stairs, he'd had a frisson of guilt. He'd never known how desperately she had wanted him, and he felt that she would be better of without him. What if he had taken the chance and discovered that she did want him to comfort her and to grieve their loss together? They had both always seemed so fearless, but in those days neither had the courage to do the one thing that would have made all the difference. Better off or not, Scarlett was with another man now, one who had the courage to bridge that gap and inspired the courage in her to make the same trip.

It was with a sigh of relief that Ewan McLure watched the Atlanta train shed recede in the distance. Somewhere in one of the rooms of the car, tended by their tutor and nannies, were the children. He couldn't face them right now. He needed what was right here with him, his own Katie. She was a little fragile, and she was in her own misery, but she shared his grief and they somehow comforted each other.

 _There was a hand around her wrist, holding her a little too close. The gentleman had a thinning head of blond and gray hair. He looked like an aristocrat. "I'll never love you as you wish to be loved, but I cannot let you go," he told her. "I'll always love you just enough that you will refuse to forget me…" He pulled her close but then pushed her away, never dropping her wrist._

 _Another man appeared, lacking much of any sort of color. He held her by the shoulders and whispered, "I have so many dreams and ideas, darling. You're so sweet and good that you will love them, I'm sure."_

 _"_ _She'll always be mine," said the first man._

 _"_ _I'll always be part of her life," answered the second man. He wandered away in the mist, only to be replaced by a monochromatic man in shades of brown._

 _"_ _Sugar, all that work you're doing, it's just not right. You have to give it up. It all belongs to me, anyway," he said._

 _"_ _If it belongs to her, it's really for me," said the first man._

 _"_ _How much of her do you want, anyway?" asked the sepia-toned man._

 _"_ _Just this much," replied the first man, holding up her arm and pulling her closer in the process. Just as she was close enough to be within his arms, he pushed her away again._

 _The third man was now gone, and Rhett Butler sauntered up. "She will always be mine, Wilkes. You don't want her, and your wife is worth fifty of her."_

 _"_ _She will always be mine," responded the first man, pulling on her again._

 _Butler took her other arm and pulled her to himself. She looked a little frightened as she glanced between the two men who pulled her back and forth in a tug of war. Suddenly she was away from both of them and falling through the mist. Then he was there to catch her, but it seemed as though she would continue to fall and he would never succeed…_

Something was patting Ewan's face. He looked up into very dim gaslight and saw Katie's worried eyes. He shook it off. "It was just a dream."

"I never thought they would be catching," she answered.

"Why were you awake?"

She shrugged. "I can't sleep. I spent months just trying to get through the wedding, as if I feared something would happen to ruin it."

"Nothing ruined the actual wedding, and Ella is safely on her tour."

"Yes, thank goodness."

The dream fell away, and she was safe in his arms. They had lost a child, but he had his Katie. They grieved their loss, but he would take comfort in what he was able to retain. They were quiet as they clung together.

"Tell me about your husbands."

She shifted in his arms to look up at him with a flash of humor. "You can tell me more about one of them than I could you… the important one."

He pressed his lips into her hair and said, "What about the others? The Charles of the fading painting, or the sepia-toned Franklin?"

"Hmph. Charles… Wade looks so much like him, and if not for Wade, it would seem as though I was never married at all. He adored me, though." She said it as a fact, with no vanity. "He was like Melly. He seemed so shy, but he was bold enough to ask me for dances, to bring me plates. He asked me to marry him. Rhett once said that alone proved he was brave."

"Was he good to you?"

"We only had a few nights together. The first night…" She pulled away. "Are you sure you want to hear about these things?"

"I do, actually."

"The first night I told him I would scream if he came near me, so he slept on the chair in my room."

"The same one there now?" Ewan had spent a night on that chair, moved close to the bed. He had held Scarlett's hand as the pains had gone through her middle. Not having a child was a violent, bloody business, and her pains had been almost as strong as labor.

"It had softer cushioning in 1861. Explaining what happened—what didn't happen—to Mother the next morning was worse. So the second night, he was terribly eager. It was his first, too, and well, he couldn't wait, and then it hurt so much, and thankfully it was over quickly. I cried until I fell asleep, and he didn't touch me the other nights, although he slept in the bed after that. It was only a week… less than, actually. He sent me letters. They were long and had a lot of your lawyer-talk in them. He had planned to live in Atlanta in Pittypat's house all our lives and take up Henry's practice. He expected me to be a central figure in society there."

"And now Wade is living in that house and taking over the Hamilton practice."

"Yes. Although I lived in that house for years during the war, and I was certainly a well known member of society, if not a well-liked one."

After having visited those places now, Ewan could picture it all. "And Frank?"

"He stole my money."

"Is that what you told Ella when she asked about him?"

"He was easy to manage, although he whined constantly. 'But, Sugar!' he would say. I told her he was kind to others and he loved that baby girl so very much. She was such an ugly child. It was such a surprise when she was a girl when I realized she was actually quite pretty.

"Frank let me have the money to save Tara, and he wasn't able to do anything when I started working with Rhett. He hated that people talked about me, and would complain and nag me to stop, but I needed the security. I hid money around the house. When I was confined, he found some of it and then searched the house until he found it all. Over two hundred dollars, and he put it in his own bank account."

"That's criminal! Legal, but evil."

"I never trusted him again, but of course, he died before it mattered much. Say what you like about Rhett Butler, he at least let my money be mine. You, as well."

One of the first things Ewan had done after their marriage was arrange their finances such that Kate and only Kate had control of her own accounts. He had some accounts that were only his as well, although they were significantly smaller. Knowing where most of her money came from, it was important to Ewan to keep that division. They had set up their estates such that the children would each get their share of the portions that came from their own fathers, while Kate's money would be split evenly among them all. Wade had already taken over control of what his mother had done with Charles's bequests, and Ella would soon be in control over the Kennedy stores and other businesses.

"And he was disgusting."

"I'm sorry?" Ewan had been thinking about their financial arrangements while clearly she'd still been thinking about Frank.

"At night. He took very little care of his person, and still I was expected to lie next to him at night. I managed somehow, but the money ended any chance of Ella having a brother or sister."

"And is this what you told his daughter before her marriage?"

Kate softened a little. "My sister's Sue told her a good many things, some of which weren't true, about men and women. That child has been a menace since Sue got with her.

"I told Ella that it wasn't a horrible thing. If God, or nature, had designed it for keeping life going, then it had to be basically good. I told her that if she thought Emmet would hurt her or if she thought she wouldn't like it, she shouldn't marry him and I would call it off."

"You told her that?"

"It's what I should have done. She told me that from the way Emmet had kissed her and taken other liberties, she thought she might like it very much, but she was afraid of being a bad woman. There wasn't much I could say to that other than since it was a good thing, enjoying it must be a good thing, too. It's all in how and why it's done."

"Was Butler kind to you?"

"He had a way of kissing me that blotted out everything in the world except him. I had such longings and no idea what they were. Once we got married it disappeared. I have no idea why he never kissed me like that afterwards. He did try to do things he thought would make me enjoy it, but at the end he just did what he did. He was at least clean, and it didn't hurt like it did that first time with Charlie. It wasn't quite as humiliating, either. I just didn't understand, and it was until—well it was too late after that."

Ewan let it lie.

"And what about this Ashley Wilkes I've heard so much about and only just met?"

"Oh, Ashley…" Kate whispered. Ewan suddenly understood why Butler hated the very thought of the man. Somehow she invested his name with such meaning. It was almost as though a soft glow filled the room just by the way she said the word.

"Well?"

She gulped. "I never noticed until Ella's wedding just how washed out he is. If he were to come to our farm in the summer, I don't think I'd even see him against the dried-out grass."

Ewan fought the urge to laugh. It was a fair comparison. During the driest part of the summer the grass did turn yellow and brown, and depending upon his attire, the poor, maligned Mr. Wilkes would blend right in.

"I didn't realize you were so superficial."

"He's washed out on the inside, too. He constantly talks about books and poetry and dead things."

"He misses his former life."

"But he talked that way all along. Did he miss it while he was living it?"

"An interesting question."

"Rhett tried to get me to see it, but I didn't understand things the way I do now. I was always bored by what Ashley said, but I thought it was interesting because he said it. I thought I was deeply in love with him, but now I think he was just the closest to some ideal I had and lived close by."

"I'm very close to you now."

Kate burrowed into him and pressed her lips to his. He knew she wanted intimacy, but they shouldn't share it completely, not until she had more time to heal from the miscarriage. There were other ways they could express their affection, ways they had explored during other times in their life together.

* * *

Three states away, Rhett Butler was on a train that would take him to the coast. There was a ship leaving soon, and he intended to be on it. He didn't know for sure where he would go, but he knew he had to be as far away from Charleston as he could get. Being far away from Texas could never be in his permanent plans, but he would stay away for a while.

There would always be times when he simply couldn't stand to be near the woman and other times when he knew he shouldn't. Leaving, going places he would never take her was the only way he'd been able to live with the feelings inside himself over her. Going now made him feel almost as if they were still married. This was just one of those times. Scarlett needed to be away from him in a way she never had needed it before, and McLure was very clear making his wishes known. Rhett wasn't sure what the man would do if pressed. He'd once mentioned knowing Rhett was still wanted in other states, after all.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you so very much for your patience. I really don't think it will take me most of a month to get chapter 32 up, but then again, I wasn't going to take so long on this chapter and things happen._

 _Thanks so much to the readers reviewers whose comments help me see the light, including **Phantom710, gabyhyatt, COCO B, samandfreddie, breakfastattiffanygs, Truckee Gal, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 & 12 & 13, Conlyn70, romabeachgirl, Melody-Rose-20, ElenaVan, Lcorrea, Aethelfraed, sanjyp, kanga85, mega700201, Helen888, gypsymuse, KatelovesEwan, christag**, and **gogomohamad229**._


	32. Stardust

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of Margaret Mitchell, her heirs, and their assigns._

* * *

 _April 1888, Tara Farm, Texas_

Ewan was in the stables, helping the veterinarian clear up after a new foal when Alfredo told him about the sighting near the bluebonnet patch. Ewan straightened up from washing his hands and pondered the various thoughts and options that came to mind. Kate was in a far field; planting was well under way and she was taking on yet another expansion. She was already considered one of the leading cotton planters in the area; if she could continue indefinitely, she might take over the state.

Ewan looked toward the horizon and saw nothing but tiny cotton plants in that direction. Kate must be at the far end of the next field. It was just as well. Ewan would rather deal with it than force her to do it.

"Butler," he said as he approached the family burial plot. "To what do we owe your presence?"

There were several workers digging a fresh hole. As Ewan approached, he noticed a wagon containing what looked like a small casket. Butler himself looked a bit gray.

"It was time to bring Bonnie to her family, McLure."

It did appear that the men were digging where Kate had indicated her daughter would go when she came.

"It's time? Now?" Ewan still felt a surge of the rage that this man, even if he didn't cause it directly, was responsible for the death of Ewan's daughter. They had all but given up hope for any others. He looked at the casket of Butler's daughter and sighed.

"Now is the time. By this time next year, I'll be over there." Butler pointed to the spot where he and Kate had agreed his grave would be. "I wanted—I wanted her to be here, to visit her here before I'm next to her."

Ewan looked at him again. His pallor was more than just weariness. "I'm sorry."

"They say it's cancer in my lungs."

Ewan made the appropriate sound, somewhere between a sigh and a grunt. "That's rough."

"I don't know how to tell her."

He turned and looked at Butler. "Oh, no…" _Not me,_ he thought. _I've put up with a lot where this man is concerned, but I won't get involved in this._

"I've fought pirates and Yankees and Yankee pirates. I've warded off claim jumpers in the gold fields… I've faced my own father and the entire goddam Charleston old guard, not to mention Atlanta… Do you know who the bravest man I ever met was?"

Ewan didn't stop looking at him. He just shrugged.

"Charles Hamilton, with a brand new Harvard Law degree, fresh from his tour, married that woman. Going to war didn't demand enough of his courage."

"She's not that bad. What could she possibly do to you now?"

"She could rage at me. She was sure I would come to a bad end, smoking those cigars and cigarettes that ruined her carpets and portieres…" He looked off in the distance, seeing the Atlanta house... "all that ghastly red velvet, I was happy to damage it… what a mausoleum."

"You've faced her when she's angry before. I admit she can be terrifying when she really lets go, but it's not the worst thing that can happen."

There was a mischievous flash of white teeth. "That wouldn't be the worst, no."

"What could she do that would be so awful?"

"Not care." Butler's face was absolutely bleak.

And there it was.

The worst thing that could happen to any man who loved Katie Scarlett O'Hara, the thing that perhaps _had_ happened to at least two of her husbands, was for her not to care. Ewan had to admit that knowing she cared was almost more important than being loved by her. He knew he'd been smitten before very minutes passed on that odd night the twins were born, but in the hour or two they'd had of courtship before their marriage, she had displayed a capacity to care that he had wanted to be part of.

"You know she'll always _care_ what happens to you."

"Not _always_. She didn't… always…"

A chill formed, the ghost of a woman who wasn't what she was now. Ewan only caught glimpses of her from time to time, realizing with that same chill that he benefitted from meeting her at the moment he did, after the war had taught her she wouldn't just get whatever she wanted, after reconstruction taught her which things were worth wanting, and after her heart had been so torn apart—by the man standing next to him—that she could only re-form it by learning how to properly love.

The two men watched the workers finish digging; they were ready to lay the casket into its new grave. Ewan didn't know how to explain this to Kate. They'd had a couple of good years without the interference. "Are you coming to the house?"

Butler looked over at him. "I'll be by… I'm not sure when. I'd like to spend one more afternoon with her here in the patch—just the two of us. Somehow she's my Scarlett here. She simpers and flirts and then we argue, just as we always did. Maybe we can recapture the essence of what once might have been."

Ewan looked him dead in the eye. "What exactly are you asking me?"

Rhett was the one who looked away. "One afternoon with Scarlett."

Ewan sighed. It would happen or it wouldn't. Kate had more say on it than anyone, and perhaps it wasn't really up to her, either. Some things seemed to be a compulsion with her.

* * *

Several weeks later, Scarlett was cleaning up from a day in the fields when Rhett came in time for dinner. Mahala asked if they should set another place. "I don't guess we can avoid it," Kate answered. "Ewan said he might stop by and I should probably hear him out this once."

Seeing the new grave, with the pretty stone moved all the way from Atlanta, gave Kate pause. If it had been up to her, she would have left the stone with a notation about where the grave had been moved. There were people in Atlanta who still remembered Bonnie. Then she thought a moment and realized that the children Bonnie had played with were in college and drawing rooms now. They had all grown up and moved on to other things. Pittypat and Henry were gone—Wade was living in that Peachtree Street house alone these days—and what was left of the Wilkes family had moved away.

When she came down, Rhett was at the bottom of the stairs, flashing his teeth at her as though he knew what she looked like under her shimmy. He took her hand and smiled. "You're like a fountain of youth, Scarlett. Suddenly I'm thirty-three years old and days away from my first blockade run."

She found herself giggling. She knew she was far away from that foolish sixteen-year-old, but it gave her a thrill and her eyelashes fluttered. "Captain Butler, you do run on."

He tugged on the hand he kissed to pull her close enough to kiss her cheek as well. "You look good, Scarlett."

"Thank you, Rhett. You still talk scandalous and make me blush." She looked him over, forcing herself to keep a flirtatious smile on her face as she noticed more gray than black in his hair and a color in his face that didn't look right. She couldn't place it until she woke up days later from a nightmare about the hospital she worked at during the war.

* * *

Dinner was an education for Rhett after a couple of years away. Scarlett was still beautiful and youthful, painfully so. Yet her hair caught the light in new ways Rhett couldn't understand until he realized there were gray strands mixed in. The lines around her eyes and lips seemed to form more easily whenever she smiled. At least they were laugh lines. It pleased him that the many scowls and frowns of her early adulthood had been eased over time.

The twins had reached the point where they were growing like weeds. They were already taller than their mother. It was easy to see that within a couple of years, Langston and Gerald would be at least as tall as Rhett was. Rhett recalled meeting the Savannah O'Haras long ago when there was trade to be accomplished. Scarlett' father was by far the shortest in his family, shorter even than his own wife. Rhett's family was also tall; the boys didn't get their height from anyplace strange.

Gerald told Rhett of his plans to go to the university in Austin or perhaps Tulane as Ewan did. When asked if he would be with his brother, Langston grinned and said he was joining the corps of cadets. Rhett felt a certain surge of pride. "West Point? Your mother is letting you go to school with Yankees?"

"Fiddle dee dee! As if I would! It would be such a scandal!" she interjected.

Rhett turned to his hostess. "Dancing while wearing full mourning was less a scandal than sending the boy to a fine institution of higher learning… that his father attended?"

She shrugged. "Melly said it was good of me to make the sacrifice since it was for the glorious cause, and you were smart enough to leave that den of Yankees."

Rhett decided to leave his reasons for his separation from West Point alone. "You cared less about the cause then than you do now. You just wanted to dance."

"So what if I did?"

Before his parents could bicker any more, Langston laughingly broke in. "I'm going to the Agricultural and Mechanical college up near Bryan, Uncle Rhett. I could pick any branch, perhaps the Army as you had planned at my age, or maybe the Navy."

There was some benefit to that sort of flexibility. "It's fairly new, isn't it?"

McClure cleared his throat. "It's forming into a good school. The board of governors has it well in hand. I know several of the members."

Rhett couldn't see anything to disapprove, and he nodded his support for the boys. There was still at least a year or two before either would leave for college, but their plans were developing. They were fine young men, sons to be proud of. Rhett reflected to himself that only so much of that came from himself. It was Scarlett's occasionally ham-handed mothering and McClure's guidance that had formed them.

The younger boys were refreshingly still young, full of daily news about how many frogs were found under the horse trough and how tall the cotton seedlings were on the west forty. They were as easy going and congenial as their father, although it was clear they could fight with each other and their other siblings with as much vigor as Scarlett ever did with Suellen Benteen. In this case, however, the arguments were better natured and eventually made up.

Jeanie, the child Rhett had yearned upon during the recent years without visits, was an enchanting girl. Her hair had darkened to a more golden color, nothing like the pale strawberry blond of Aiden and Joseph, and yet nothing like anyone in Rhett's recent family. She was a determined child who held all of the male members of her family in her hand, just as Bonnie had once done. She'd already learned how to flash her eyes, pale blue with green flecks, but was far too young to appreciate just how dangerous her eyes would one day be. Rhett dreaded the day she would come out… and realized with a pang that he wouldn't be there. Sleep was hard to achieve that night, and only after a coughing fit wore him out.

* * *

Rhett carried the picnic basket over the increasingly worn trail that led to the bluebonnet patch. Scarlett laid out the blanket under the trees, but Rhett took her hand and pulled her out into the flowers to where they could just see the burial ground.

"I'm glad Bonnie is finally here," he whispered. "I've longed to bring her here. It's where she truly belongs."

Scarlett bit her lip rather than snap at his foolishness. "You know that what's in that casket—it doesn't matter in the least."

"I know it wasn't for her. It was for me. It's the right time, Scarlett."

A look passed over her face. _Foreboding?_ "Is there some rush?"

A look came over his face she'd never seen before, and she didn't complain or push away when he pulled her close.

He whispered it into her neck. "Scarlett, I'm sick in my lungs with cancer. I'm going to die soon."

"Oh, Rhett." She pulled him closer.

Without realizing how it happened, he was crying into her neck and they were somehow in the shade again, on the blanket. He was sobbing into arms and it was beyond the comfort that Melanie had ever given him. He realized they could have had this if he had ever been willing to be less than poised in her presence. They might have comforted each other, through all of the losses of their past and this moment might have been completely different.

As he drew comfort from being clasped to her, he was aware himself being pulled into the softness of her breasts, and further from that into the softness of her very self. This was what he needed, and only Scarlett could give it to him: the chance to make peace with his world and himself. As the passion of his agony subsided, he confessed to her the love she had never lost as well as his sorrow and remorse for not trusting her and for choosing others.

When he awoke, an hour or two later, Scarlett was looking toward the burial plot. "I feel like there should be a flagpole or something over there, so I could always see it," she said out of nowhere. I know where it is, but if I could somehow make it out when I look… but a flag would require someone to tend it every day."

Some sort of landmark would be useful.

"Scarlett," he said, and then stopped. What could possibly be said? He wasn't sure he remembered all of what happened before he fell asleep.

She looked over at him with a face full of a sort of compassion that he would never have accepted from her in their past life. He couldn't bring himself to ask for anything else, but there was an acknowledgement to be made.

"I needed a chance to say those things, my dear. I haven't really allowed myself to face it. Thank you."

She reached over and held his hand. They sat and watched the flowers turn color as the sun moved across the sky.

That night, Ewan leaned down and put his head on Kate's shoulder as she stared at herself in her vanity mirror. Both Butler and she had been quiet at dinner and afterward, although there had been none of the guilty awareness of several years before.

"I'm so old," she said.

"I can't quite see it," he answered. "There's this quality about you that's just everything beautiful when I look at you, every time."

She turned, pursing her lips and patting his cheek. "You turn my head, Mr. McLure." She looked back at the mirror. "But why do we have to get older? Why can't we stay young forever?"

"He told you?"

"Yes. You already knew?"

"He told me when he brought your little girl."

"That little girl would be preparing for her debut next year." She sighed. "Even now I sometimes miss her. I don't know what this world will be without _him_."

"You've had years at a time when you never expected to see or hear from him again."

"I knew he was still out there. I expected he was in Charleston with his perfect wife and children. I don't know that I can let him go like this."

"How was he today?"

"It was horrible, but it was good. You know I worked in the hospital during the war. I've been with doctors when they had to tell the boys the worst news. Some were losing their legs or had lost their eyesight. Some had friends who died during surgery or sickness. Some had to be told they were dying themselves. I was never one for offering comfort. Melanie was better-she should be here now."

"Did you give comfort to him?"

"I think so. I think he was comforted."

Ewan gave her a look.

"I just held him in my arms and let him say everything he had to say. We both cried, I think."

"That was it?"

She nodded. "Don't worry, there is no possible way for there to be an argument such as the one we had about Jeanie. Nothing remotely like _that_ happened."

Ewan pulled his wife close and held her for a moment before they went to bed, glad that it was so. Yet something had happened. Something had shifted yet again in the relationships between everyone. Time would tell how they would all be affected.

* * *

 _May 1888, Gaveston Bay_

The sailboat cut through the water, and the feeling of speed with the cool breeze was delicious. The twins manned the boat these days, taught by their father, who sat back and watched everything, giving orders now and again. Scarlett was in the bow, holding on to Jeannie who shrieked with joy every time they came about and the spray got in her face.

"Bud, we'd best go back," said Rhett to the closer boy.

The lad looked over at him and glanced at the sun. "We've hours yet."

"We have to tack back into an unfavorable wind, Langston. Don't forget everything you know."

The boy twisted his mouth and nodded once in acknowledgement. "Aye Captain." He went over to discuss the return trip with Jerry. The two older boys started giving their directions to their "crew" of Aiden and Joe.

Rhett turned his face into the sun and smiled. It reminded him of his own youth. "Those were the days." He looked over at McLure. "I wanted to discuss my will."

Ewan looked at him. "I would have expected you to have that drawn up by now."

"Completely," Rhett agreed. "That's not what I need. Scarlett won't talk sense about it. She's changed greatly. She would have been only too eager to hear about where all that money was going when _I_ was married to her."

"It's amazing what a decade of being fed and secure will do for a woman," retorted Ewan. He relented. "The nightmares are back, but they're different. She's going to miss you."

"She's never missed me. I would be so angry at her, or at the circumstances—I had to leave, far too often—and when I came back, her life had always continued on without me, as if I had never existed."

"She missed you far more than she let on, especially after some point. Something about the baby she lost."

"Goddamn Wilkes' goddamn birthday party. I should have noticed, but I was a desperate man right then, more desperate than that gang in Missouri." Rhett sighed and was quiet as he watched the boys bring the boat around for the trip back to Galveston. "I'd like you to be the executor of the estate, since you're already taking care of all the beneficiaries."

"Surely your wife will have something to say about that…"

"I had that marriage annulled, as I should have done—well, I never should have allowed that woman to inveigle me in the least. Miss Caroline Bell is in possession of a house I bought for her as well as whatever is left of the account I set up to fund her allowance starting the day we exchanged vows. She is not mentioned in my will."

"Then it all goes to the boys?"

Rhett shrugged. "Yes and no. The house in Charleston and whatever furnishings are left in Atlanta are to go to Ella. I have set aside a bequest of similar value for Wade Hamilton and your boys. That leaves us Jeanie."

"I won't fight you over my daughter." Ewan didn't want to fight the man while he was sick and on his own boat, but he wouldn't allow any question over Jeanie.

"There's no point to it, now. I'd like to leave her the Galveston house." Seeing no answer to that, he continued. "Scarlett gets all the jewelry I have locked up. It was all gifted to her over the years of our marriage and is hers. She can divide it among the children. She is also to get an amount of money equal to the divorce settlement. She's earned it over the last few years, and while that amount was half of my recognized wealth, it's about half of my current wealth again now."

"You had quite a bit hidden, then?"

"Some was hidden, and it's all grown a bit since then. At four percent interest, it takes fewer than twenty-five years to double an investment."

It was all so… _complete, finished_. How could this be the sum of a man's life? "Will you be coming to Tara?"

"You don't want me."

"She does. She's been making changes to the room you were using."

"I don't want—I don't want it to be like that. I don't like her seeing me this way as it is."

* * *

 _October 1888_

Rhett never did come back to Tara. Kate made the trip to Galveston, staying at the hotel and visiting Rhett's house, when other excursions became too didfficult. He had hired two medical students to care for him. As soon as he no longer needed their services, they would receive the money to pay for their entire educations. Kate went once a month until he wouldn't let her come any longer.

When she returned from her last visit, she saw Ewan and started crying. "He could barely get out of bed, although he wouldn't allow me to come upstairs to see him. He insisted on tea in the parlor."

"Is there none of his family to visit him?"

"His mother died when he was in Europe a couple of years ago, and he said his goodbyes to Rosemary before he brought Bonnie to us." There had been a cooling off when Rhett finally decided to put his own happiness ahead of his brother-in-law's goals.

"So you won't visit him again?"

"I asked one of his student doctors to let me know…I feel that I should visit one last time, to say a proper goodbye."

"You didn't say goodbye to him?"

"I did, and he seemed satisfied with it, but—" She stopped to pull out her handkerchief and wipe her eyes. "Remembering those boys in the hospital, hundreds of miles from home, dying without their loved ones…"

Ewan smiled kindly. "They had you."

Kate shook her head. "They had _Melly_. She would say something about how everyone should be able to die with a soft voice kind hand nearby, and how she would hope for someone to be there for Ashley, so she would do it for the men in the hospital in Atlanta." She sighed.

"Darlin', you know he set great store upon being seen a certain way by you. Do you ever once recall him being sick?"

She shook her head again. "No, I really can't say that I do."

"Let him have that. The boys will remember him as the larger than life visitor who came and told them tall tales, and you will remember the dashing blockade runner who swept you off your feet."

Kate nodded, then. "If you think that's best." She gave him a wet smile. "That won't work for you, though."

"No," he agreed. "You can smother me with your bedside kindnesses all you wish if I ever get that sick."

* * *

 _November 1888_

There was no time for the next Monthly visit. Kate received word of Rhett's death two weeks after her October visit and took the twins to Galveston for the funeral. A week later, the Dixburg priest blessed the ground next to Bonnie's new grave and father and daughter once again slept near each other.

Kate spent the winter planning her farm as she always did, but rare was the day she didn't go to visit her daughter and former husband. Snippets of conversation came to mind and she re-fought arguments twenty years old. She wondered, as she had so many times over the years, what could have been done to fix the divide between them. Surely it wasn't always impossible, and yet it was hard to pinpoint any one moment. There were many little moments where if she had been kinder or he had been clearer in intent, the accumulation might have caused a great difference, but they would never know, now.

* * *

 _Spring 1889_

The flowers were beautiful that year, and for once there was money to hire as many hands to work as much land as the McLure family owned. On a day when there wasn't much for her to do in the fields, Kate wore a green dress in just the shade Rhett Butler would have liked. Looping a hand into an arm of each of her twin sons, they walked out to stand in the field of bluebonnets.

A gazebo had been built just outside the fence of the cemetery. It had a weather vane on top that was just about visible from the drive in front of the house. One the days Scarlett couldn't get out to visit the graves, she could look and see the weather vane and knew where Rhett and Bonnie were. Today she sat with her sons and told them about their father and sister.

They asked questions about the war. She didn't shade the truth. Rhett had speculated on the war and he hadn't involved himself in the fighting until eight months before it ended, and he was proud of all of those facts, conflicting as they might be. Scarlett knew he would want his sons to be aware of it all. She described Bonnie's short life. She explained about the fear of the dark and was proud to describe her horsemanship. She told of Rhett's successful campaign on the Atlanta Old Guard in order to get Bonnie recognized by the elite families.

Scarlett might have been a little less forthright about her own activities in all those years. Looking back, she was a little ashamed of the way she treated her first two husbands. She was embarrassed to have spent so much time chasing after Ashley, and she knew now how wrong it had been to curry favor with the Yankees. Yet the facts were the facts, and she wouldn't hide them. She did not mention the fact that she hated every moment of working in the hospital and that she found ways to avoid the more onerous tasks. By this time she had conveniently long forgotten how much he once hoped that Melanie Wilkes would die in childbirth.

On such a beautiful day, she was able to remember that last afternoon with Rhett here in the patch and of the things he whispered to her as she held him tight. He had loved her almost since he met her, and had never stopped. She learned to love him after it was useless and having once learned, needed a practical outlet he could no longer provide. He had tried too hard at times, and she had been more difficult than she needed to be. After all of that, Rhett wanted peace with her. Today, Scarlett was finally able to give it.

* * *

 _A/N: Yeah, it's not quite the way I wanted to finish writing this story, but it is the ending I always envisioned. By way of epilogue, I will observe that things simply continued as they are indicated. Jerry probably went to the University of Texas and studied Law while Bud went to Texas A &M and studied agriculture. Some combination of the five McLure children continued the cotton farming and horse ranching. Some others might have settled in other parts of the state. Wade would marry a girl from Georgia or South Carolina and practice law in Atlanta just as Uncle Henry did. Ella would become the great society lady that Scarlett never quite managed to do. Scarlett would be the lone female in the local farmers associations and they would all learn to fear her, but never complained to her husband, who eventually accepted a judgeship in the area after the boys were old enough to take over the work of raising the horses._

 _As a trailer for future features, I do have much of the next chapter of Complimenting Your Intelligence in my head, but I'm not entirely about some important characterization, so here it sits in my head. I've also been thinking through another entire story, which should be more funny than anything else and in which I will revert to HEA._

 _This song has been done by many, but my favorite version is Nat King Cole's. His daughter Natalie did it very well, too, but I think some of the orchestration is a little over done in comparison. It was written by Hoagy Carmichael._

 _I realize that this was an extremely controversial story and I appreciate that so many of you gave it a chance. All of the readers and reviewers for this story have been wonderful, including **Aethelfraed, Guest 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7, kanga85, Conlyn70, gabyhyatt, Truckee Gal, COCO B, Phantom710, ****Melody-Rose-20** , and **WhitmanFrostFiend.**_


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